


Community Gardens

by tanakaempire



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - No Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), Bonding, Developing Friendships, Falling In Love, I genuinely just wrote this for self indulgence but hopefully you can all enjoy it anyways, I love them so much, Investigations, Island Mode (Dangan Ronpa), Jabberwock Island (Dangan Ronpa), Kamukura Izuru Project | Hope Cultivation Plan, Like It's not for convenience either it's for plot I swear I miss him every day and every night, Like he's just gone, M/M, Neo World Program (Dangan Ronpa), No Hajime Hinata, One-Sided Attraction, One-Sided Relationship, Plot Twists, Self-Discovery, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Hatred, Self-Indulgent, Slow Build, Some hurt/comfort, Suffering Komaeda Nagito, Super Dangan Ronpa 2 Spoilers, They grow from one another, Unrequited Love, look at them go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:00:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 53,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24530449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tanakaempire/pseuds/tanakaempire
Summary: Alone on an island with fourteen other talented students, following only the guidance of a mysterious rabbit 'teacher,' Nagito Komaeda is distracted from the school trip's illusion of paradise the moment Monokuma falls from the sky and fails to overthrow the hope manifesting on the island.Unable to leave well enough alone, Nagito is able to wrangle an unusual ally out of the strangest guy on the island in order to investigate the real happenings of their mysterious and 'Heart-Throbbing' School Trip. It's needless to say, there's more going on here than meets the eye, and it's not too long before they find themselves uncovering what was meant to stay hidden from them.After all, the seemingly harmonious island bears a terrible secret - one that should be kept far, far out of Nagito Komaeda's hands.
Relationships: Komaeda Nagito & Tanaka Gundham, Komaeda Nagito/Tanaka Gundham, Roulette - Relationship
Comments: 97
Kudos: 179





	1. Full Disclosure

_Talent._  
Nagito lived and breathed those concepts easier than air.  
 _And Hope._  
  
The familiarity of a classroom had fallen away before his very eyes in order to give way to tropical paradise. A strange sensation, yes. Expected of Hope’s Peak Academy?  
  
He still couldn’t know for sure, but the ocean air was as inviting as it was suffocating.  
  
Komaeda couldn’t help himself but to steal quick glances at his fellow students — the ones he knew he was nothing like.  
  
Better than him. _Better than me._ Each and everyone of them was better than him.  
Their _talents_ were better than his.  
  
Nagito’s internet studies could have been considered obsessive, but he knew all of their names before they even introduced themselves. He knew their talents, he knew their accomplishments, and he _worshipped_ their titles.  
  
Like an adoring fan greeting his favorite celebrities. That hunger for knowledge. That willingness to be subservient. Wasn’t that a normal feeling?  
  
Now, what Nagito _hadn’t_ expected out of Hope’s Peak Academy was the rabbit-shaped teacher, or whatever that ‘Usami’ was supposed to be.  
Nor had he expected the school trip, but that wasn’t an unpleasant surprise. The promise of a present in exchange for their first fragments of hope was more than enough of an excuse to send Nagito hunting around on that first island, peeking his head around in order to observe the Ultimate students in their everyday lives.  
  
As every-day as the surprise trip was — more routine than one would expect.  
  
And Nagito would approach with an unassuming smile, waving with ease and offering over his own measly talent and name in order to fish for theirs.  
Names he already knew. Names he’d already dissected for worth. It was breathtaking to see them in person.  
  
Met with kindness or hostility, Komaeda held no mind. The Ultimates could rattle him around and mistreat him however they pleased, and he would simply exhale a shuddering, complacent laugh.  
’ _I understand!’_  
  
 _Fifteen of us total._ Nagito had thought he’d miscounted on the beach.  
He wouldn’t have been surprised if his diseased, worthless mind had mistakenly discounted an ultimate. A terribly, blasphemous mistake, but one only someone as worthless as Nagito could make.  
Neglecting a talented classmate. _I may as well throw myself in the ocean!_  
He laughed softly at the thought.  
  
But no.  
Upon further inspection in the final place Nagito had left unchecked, the student count capped at fifteen.  
 _Huh. We’re short someone..._  
  
Nagito, Kazuichi, Nekomaru, Byakuya, Gundham, Teruteru, Chiaki, Hiyoko, Mahiru, Mikan, Fuyuhiko, Peko, Ibuki, Akane, Sonia, and—??  
  
Nagito counted the names again in his head, closing distance on the final student.  
 _Huh._ Nothing more to do about it.  
A shame _they_ were the missing student and not him. What kind of worthless talent was luck, anyway?  
 _I wonder who they are..._  
  
The Lucky Student quickly reigned in his thoughts before they could distance themselves too far from reality. Whoever this boy was could be anyone - anyone with _any_ talent. That idea made him giddy.  
 _Ahhh, back on track!_  
  
The student he’d yet to talk to was one whose name he remembered from online forums.  
He was famous (more accurately: infamous) for his strange, eccentric behavior. Even from afar Nagito could judge that from his choice of hairstyle.  
  
 _Looks like an ice cream cone..._  
Nagito could have laughed - if only he wasn’t such a tragic mess himself. He had no place laughing at someone with _real_ talent and exceptional skill like Gundham.  
  
Gundham. Who didn’t know his name.  
It was a strange super power that tied in to being the self-proclaimed ‘Ultimate Ultimate Fanatic.’  
He knew about Gundham’s accomplishments in the breeding club. He knew about his breeding website.  
He knew about Gundham’s revival of near-extinct species using his talent alone.  
  
 _An accomplished guy!_ Far more than a luckster could scrounge up in his whole life — even giving his best effort!  
 _Amazing..._ Komaeda’s gut twist with a sick sense of admiration. Or was it spite?  
He’d felt that internal contradiction so many times today that it had become second nature.  
Smiling through his teeth.  
  
He opened his mouth to address his fellow student, when Tanaka’s sharp, hooded eyes turned on him like a rabid animal.  
  
Made-up generously, those multi-colored irises were already devouring him like the hellhounds Gundham claimed to train. Scrutinizing him entirely with one decisive glare.  
 _”Stay back,”_ Gundham huffed dutifully, eyes trained on the frail form of the Lucky Student.  
”And if you value your life,” The breeder continued without waiting, voice oozing over with a thick, trained emphasis upon every syllable, “ _then turn away.”_  
  
”—Ah,” Nagito’s smile persisted, hands raising to eye level with a curt wave. ‘I surrender!’ “Sorry... I’ll stay right here! Heh.” _Cut off already?_ “I just wondered if I could have a word with you. Uh... maybe shake your hand? Always good to connect with another student!” Nagito cautiously lowered one of his two raised limbs, before proposing it to the other in a symbol of greeting.  
’Hello?’  
  
The offer only made matters worse as a stricken, almost _offended_ look crossed the other’s face.  
”You _fiend!_ I said come no closer!” Gundham stepped back from the hand, scoffing as he gave Nagito another studying gaze.  
And then came a wordless ponder. “—Mm... oh very well. I shall indulge that courage of yours, as one of the _worms_ brave enough to draw nearer...”  
  
 _Worm?_ Oh! Nagito was almost certainly a worm... just worthless bug, really.  
Slimy, disgusting, lived underground and thirsted for the rain, only to be easily stepped on by packs of careless children.  
A sad life cycle.  
 _Definitely like me!_ Nagito could coin that phrase again later.  
  
This time Nagito hesitated on what to say next. _This guy’s... definitely eccentric! Just like the website said!_ Weird. He couldn’t exactly connect disgracing words to Ultimate names, but _weird_ was what he was thinking.  
But he had no right to stand up to it, nor to question it. Gundham has the Ultimate, not him.  
 _Am I supposed to talk like that back to him?_ Probably not. _He’d probably take it like I’m mocking him..._  
  
”Yeah-! I just thought I’d have a look around the island and try to get acquainted with my classmates! You’re an ultimate, aren’t you? What’s your name?” Nagito’s tone could easily slip into excitement during these conversations. Genuine excitements. _Ultimates_ excited him.  
  
”...” Gundham paused, quirking what might have been a brow, had there been a brow to quirk at all.  
  
 _The guy shaved his eyebrows off..._  
  
From the other’s mouth breathed out a malevolent trail of chuckles. _“Kehehehe..._ so you wish to know my name...?” His posture was still clearly bent on establishing distance from Nagito, but his tone had changed.  
It presented a different conflicting message. A lure. ‘Come closer, if you dare!’ “It is difficult to discern your courage from _recklessness —_ perhaps listening to the forbidden name should produce some semblance of worth from you.”  
  
Nagito dared. He didn’t care about his life - not that he thought this guy would really do much of anything to him.  
”Yeah! I’m ready to hear your name! Haha...”  
...He already _knew_ the so-called _'forbidden name_ ,' and he was still alive to tell the tale. Would it please Gundham more if he trembled in fear at the sound of it? Or should he pass it off as fine?  
What would best befit an Ultimate?  
  
Lying was best to avoid, so Nagito would refrain from feigning for now.

"Hmph. I suppose now we shall test your durability. You may call me..." the skeptical glare shifted slightly, morphing into something haughtier within moments. " _Gundham Tanaka-!_ Remember it well... for _it_ is the name that shall one say rule this world...!" And with that, the stranger eased into a practiced pose. It became clear to Nagito that he might perform this ceremony every time his name was asked for.

_Interesting!_ Nagito smiled, forcing a soft laugh as he clapped once or twice. "Wow! Rule the world-? What an ambitious end goal! Heh, heh, heh!" Well, if anyone could do it, it was an ultimate. Right?

Truer than he knew.

Gundham 's stare was probing again -- as if the breeder needed extra assurance that Nagito wasn't dead after hearing his fearsome title.

"Now then," he articulated, arms crossing authoritatively. "My turn to ask questions. Whose _master_ are you?"

_M-Master?_ Nagito blinked, hesitating. "I - uhh..."

If anything, _he_ was the servant here. Servant of hope, servant of the Ultimates... but despite his inefficiencies with social interaction, he could tell that perhaps refraining from spilling all those sick concepts was not in his best interest.

_If everything he says is an indirect way to ask something else... then he must mean..._ "Oh! You're asking if I've ever had a pet, right?" That made sense! He was a breeder after all. "Haha! In that case, I have. No one's master right now... but I had a dog way back when."

"A _hellhound...?_ " Oh! Gundham's tone seemed attentive. That was a good answer, apparently.

"Yeah, a hellhound!" Nagito chimed. Maybe he was making progress! Adopting his wording here seemed appropriate, so he took it up. "Heh, heh. He was my only friend for a while..." _Isn't that sad?_ Not 'sad.' It wasn't sad when it was expected.

There was no tragedy in predictability. _Isn't it pathetic?_

"He's dead now, though." The laugh that followed the statement was involuntary, a coping mechanism so ingrained in his head that it had easily become second nature.

"Hhm." One of Tanaka's eyes drew closed as the other widened. Inspecting him from a new angle?

He'd passed the first test, seemingly. Time for another. "Another trial, then."

_Trial, right..._ Nagito was about to make some loose-lipped comment that he himself hadn't even thought entirely through when his eyes trained on a few colored mounds that had started to shift under the folds of Gundham's scarf.

These mounds stared at the lucky student with small, beady eyes.

_Oh! Those are the Dark Divas of Doom!_ Nagito's expression perked up at the sight. No matter how strange the holder of the talent was, Gundham's skill as a breeder was becoming more and more apparent. "Hey! Are those your hamsters?"

Oh no. Gundham looked upset at him. Had Nagito screwed up again?

_Ah! Stupid Nagito!_ He couldn't do anything right, could he?

" _That_ is a very unwise thing to say, you _fiend..._ " Gundham's head inclined to the side, squinting at his pets from the corner of his vision. "To call _my Four Dark Devas of Destruction_ 'hamsters!'"

"Oh! Sorry... Dark Devas!" Nagito immediately adopted the term. _Wackjob._ Ah, no. Not a wackjob! _Nagito_ was the wackjob! _Eccentric._ Loving term for wackjob.  
Nagito would have slapped himself for thinking out of turn, but somehow he felt a restrain on that need. Did he want to, or feel that he needed to? Ah, he just had to remember his place. "Either way... it's amazing! Like something you'd see of a nature show! Totally fits the bill of the Ultimate Breeder..."

"Taming _evil_ by using yourself as a bed - truly, this is the secret art of the Tanaka Empire!"

The breeder extended a bandaged hand, his wrist flicking up in a natural, graceful arc. His fingers formed a small, delicate fortress for the rodent that was already clamoring down his arm towards his palm. "One of my four Dark Devas, _Mirage Golden Hawk Jum-P,_ has _this_ to say: 'We're not used to going _easy_ on our enemies! So don't make us angry! You wouldn't like us when we're angry!'"

The breeder sneered in place of his hamster, who was seated rather peacefully on his hand. From his throat rumbled a deep, boasting laugh. "Fuha-! Fuhahahahahahaaaa _aaa..._ " The final note dragged out as Gundham's expression declined into an anticipatory smirk.

_'Your turn.'_

_Wow!_ That was something! Nagito was sure that he was supposed to be impressed, and he _was_ by that beautiful display of talent! Was he supposed to rival that somehow? Or merely gape and applaud like the useless garbage he was? Nagito had nothing to compete with something like that.

Stupid. Talentless. Artless. Disgrace. Synonyms of Nagito.

_What an odd guy._ He'd thought by now the persona would have been dropped, or faltered even slightly, but it hadn't. It just kept going. Nagito didn't allow himself room for judgement, though. He'd extensively read and picked apart all his greatest accomplishments! Nagito, a doer of nothing good, had a designated place _kneeling_ before someone like him.

Didn't he...?

Rumor had it he could speak to animals, too, but if anything that seemed like some kind of tall tale that the guy had spun up to compliment his whole... thing.

"That's incredible! I'm speechless," Nagito fed the other's ego easily. "I wish I had more of a talent to speak of... I'm Nagito Komaeda. Ultimate Lucky Student. I know it's not much of a talent, but..." He waved apologetically. 'Sorry I exist.' "If you believe in that sort of thing." And maybe someone like Gundham would.

Gundham didn't seem that impressed - which Nagito expected - but he seemed almost _entirely_ disinterested. "Hmph."

.. _.That it?_ Made sense. Nagito was nothing more than a _worm,_ just like Gundham had said. He choked up another breathy laugh, not dissimilar to a cat hacking up a hairball. "There's nothing much else to say."

"Mm..." Gundham had already started walking away.

"Huh -- oh," Nagito's face flushed as he watched the other disappear from his sight, and evacuate from the room entirely. "Ah! See you!" _Stupid Nagito... your blandness scared him off..._

Worthless trash. He didn't even consider following and continuing to burden Gundham with his existence.

Besides, Gundham hadn't been the first unfriendly face. There had been that Fuyuhiko, too. He also wasn't the first outrageous character, but he was _definitely_ the weirdest.

The lucky student shoved his hands into his jacket pockets awkwardly, the damp air conditioning of the room managing to awaken his senses and send vibrations down his spinal cord.

Was that everyone?

Almost on cue, the faintly familiar morning announcement trill chimed overhead, and the lucky student inclined his head upward to stare at the monitor hooked to the wall.

With a shuddering start, static particles parted to give way to the image of Usami, her arms waving cheerily in the air her acceptance onto the airway frequencies.

Nagito guessed the announcement before it even left her mouth.

_Back to the beach, huh?_

Seemed almost too fast! How time flew when you were talking to your idols!

Exhaling a cheerful whistle, Nagito turned for the exit himself.

_Ah..._ _now what's supposed to happen?_

The facts of the matter were still the same. They were trapped on an island without a real teacher. There was a student missing here that hadn't even been addressed yet. They had an entire island to themselves. Everything seemed to be hiding in plain sight, and yet _Usami_ wasn't telling them anything.

Nagito almost laughed to himself. This was already turning out to be better than Hope's Peak! Almost -- nothing could be better than the concept he admired so much.

So what was it? An entrance exam? A test?

Or something _more challenging,_ more _invigorating?_ Better? Something he could futz with? A chance to see hopes shine through oppressive, despairing clouds? A chance to watch the ultimate students _**squirm?**_

A hostage scenario? Kidnapping? Hunger games? Escape room? Experiment?

The idea of dangerous factors like that made him giddy with excitement.

Ah, and he could sit back.

Because no matter what, the beacons of hope could see it through!

Couldn't they?

Nagito was just their pawn, and he would make whatever move was necessary to their future success.

...But he was getting ahead of himself.

This was just a _heart-throbbing school trip_! Perhaps he could ease his hungering mind and take an easy breath.

_Well?_ Was that right?

Nah, couldn't be.

_Can't forget luck._

If there was one thing among countless negatives that Nagito _wasn't_ , it was a naïf.

He could hope one way or the other - it didn't make a difference at all.

This was a _waiting game._


	2. Sandcastles

Felt strange to stand in the sun wearing nothing but swim trunks, but there Nagito stood on the outskirts of the waves.  
Fresh, generous morning light poured onto his pale, unsightly skin. His sickly frame bathed itself in the natural arc of the sun.  
  
And all around him his fellow students were taking part in similar activities. _Huh._ Usami had insisted that they all treat themselves to time by the shore, and Nagito hadn't objected at all.  
Now that he was here, though, he found himself at a loss of ideas.  
  
His pale eyes traveled intermittently around, observing the others as they enjoyed themselves. Most were not shy of the waves, making small-talk as the glittering blue surf gnawed playfully at their heels.  
Komaeda's gaze couldn't help but focus on a few _key places_ on certain fellow students of his, before his expression retreated shamefully into the sand.  
None of the boys noticed.  
  
The Lucky Student had meandered from the surf to the sand and back again in a hypnotic metronome of wasted time. He could insert himself into conversations, maybe, but many of the other students were already too far into the sea to adequately speak to.  
_Ah... should I swim?_ After a brief consideration, that was a no -- knowing his luck he could slam his head against a rock and slip below the waves into some unlucky destiny out of his hands.  
Probably to be given mouth-to-mouth by some unfortunate, undeserving ultimate. ' _Good luck.'_ The closest thing he'd ever get to a genuine kiss on the lips. Revolting Nagito.  
  
So he sat on the shore now, his eyes fluttering closed as his foot casually turned up grains of sand. Tired... but in a way that evoked serenity.  
It didn't take him too long to notice the one person who hadn't gone into the shore, though. That being someone he'd remembered very well from earlier that day.  
Nagito's head inclined back just to be sure he was taking in the situation correctly.  
  
Sure enough, it was Gundham, his purple silken scarf coiled loosely around his neck even now.  
Sitting on his knees, he had started to busy himself with the construction of a castle evoked from sand. Gradually looming towers began to peek from the earth as Gundham's Dark Devas peered over the rim of his scarf at the construction below, whiskers twitching.  
Tanaka was building a kingdom for he and his four companions.  
  
Nagito smiled faintly, reclining back into the sand as he eyed the other. _Cute!  
_The Lucky Student kept his distance, laughing softly to himself at the idea of approaching. What would happen? _Maybe he'd call me a worm again..._ or some other fitting name.  
Sitting around felt unnatural quickly, so Nagito rose to his feet with a soft huff within no time at all.  
Whew! _And... now what...?  
_May as well give it a go. Gundham was the only person he could talk to, assuming the guy would answer him at all. And who knew, maybe Komaeda could scrounge up some more thrilling details about his talent?  
The concept brought a smile to his face.  
  
He lead with a wave, a confident smile teasing Nagito's lips. "Haha! Hey there, Gundham! Am I allowed to approach? Or is it too dangerous?" Was he... trying too hard? He worried briefly, but assured himself that if anything, he wasn't trying _hard enough._ But he didn't have a grasp on Gundham's persona just yet.  
If anything, he could justify his own curiosity with the excuse that he _needed_ to learn more about Gundham in order to properly become his stepping stone.  
  
Gundham scoffed, casting a seemingly-pestered glance up to squint at the lucky student.  
"To approach twice in a mere day? Your courage borders recklessness... what is it that you seek from the Supreme Overlord of Ice so desperately that you must risk your pitiful life _twice_ in a single day?"  
  
He'd said it like it was some incredible feat...  
Nagito laughed softly, propping a hand on his hip at the recline of his apologetic wave.

"Heh, heh. I just wanted to make sure you didn't need any help with your _sandcastles,_ that's all. And I was wondering if I could ask you a few more questions! You know..." He didn't elaborate. Perhaps he _didn't_ know.

"..." Gundham returned to his sandcastle with a huff, eyes still focused on the honing of the disposable earth. "No. I need no assistance from the likes of fiends... the human tendency is destructive - even the _arcane eyes_ can not foretell such a cataclysm!"

_...Huh...?_ Nagito blinked, not quite grasping the statement at first. _Is it my luck? Does he think my luck will mess with his project?_ But then he realized.

_"Oh!_ You think that I'll jump on your sandcastle? Hahaha... I wouldn't do that." His laugh was raspy, settling at the base of his throat as he rested a hand against his cheek in thought. A single, spindly finger rose from his palm, anxiously outlining the shape of his eye. "Just thought you could use a few shells! Or maybe some decorations? Just so you don't have to leave your castle behind to find any..."

"..." Gundham's gaze turned up again, a stiff stoicism dappling his lips. "...Hm." His multi-colored eyes dwindled elsewhere for a moment, narrowing in thought.

"Tch. If you truly have no will of your own, then perhaps I shall accept your desperate tributes to the shrine of the Tanaka Empire."

_Oh! Yay!_ Nagito chuckled. "Ah, thank you!" He chose not to elaborate on Gundham's comment about free will. Nagito didn't have a free will, being hope's measliest stepping stone of all.

He pivoted, but did not retreat yet. Did he... should he say something else? He'd wanted to talk to him more, hadn't he? Perhaps this was the worst person to try making a friend out of - he was the only one who seemed to so easily see how pathetic Nagito really was. "...Hey. Uh... why don't you tell me a bit more about your Dark Devas! They like the sand...?" He loitered for an answer.  
  
"..."  
Gundham lifted his head again, giving an analytical gaze up to his loitering classmate. "...They do not mind the out of doors... in fact, I think they are already taking a liking to their _kingdom._ "  
  
_Kingdom..._  
Nagito chuckled softly, giving an encouraging nod. "Yeah! Must be well trained for them just to hang around in your scarf all day..." He hesitated to move, but he _had_ resigned himself to the role of collecting shells... may as well perform his self-assigned task.  
  
The lucky student embraced the surf, crouching at the shoreline to examine the tidal comings and goings. His bony fingers poked around at the sand, a troubled frown finding his face until he finally managed to recover a shell or two.  
Ah, he wasn't doing too poorly now...  
  
"The Dark Devas need stray no further... though their power is enough to claim dominion of this surf, they have no _will_ to stray... they have already been sated by what their kingdom supplies."  
  
_Huh?_ They were perfectly satisfied just to sit in that sandcastle?  
Nagito stole a glance over his shoulder just to take a peek for himself, and only then did he see the method Gundham was utilizing.  
  
There, sunflower seeds grasped firmly in each of their paws, the Devas sat in a lazy huddle enjoying their banquet.  
  
_Ah... that's kinda nice._ Nagito's gaze continued travelling, though, widening very slightly as it followed the natural arch of the breeder's back. He found himself examining the flex of his spine, eyeing either shoulder before his stare eventually reached the base of his vertebrae.  
_...Oh...….  
He's... pretty muscular for a breeder..._  
Then Nagito remembered to breathe, shaking his head to dismiss his travelling thoughts.  
  
Collecting his handful of shells, Nagito wandered back to to the other and knelt tentatively in the sand beside him. "Mind if I sit?"  
  
"You're rather close..." Gundham growled. "Draw too closely and it shall cost you dearly."  
  
"...!" Nagito paused, before exhaling a strained laugh. "Right! Got it... just wanted to hand these to you."  
The Lucky Student lifted each shell individual, placing them hastily in a pile before Gundham's lap. Once he was finished, he instinctually shot a quick smile up at the other, as if apologizing for the act, or simply for existing at all.  
  
The brooding look he got back wasn't exactly what he'd expected.  
Nagito had thought he'd get nothing more than a dismissive glance, but instead... it was almost like Gundham was confused. Only _vaguely_ confused, but confused enough, still.  
  
Up close it was easier to make out the sleek of sweat that gave his body a natural shine in opposition of the sunlight. Gundham's swirled-up hair had remained intact, and his eyeliner hadn't smudged in the slightest. It gave a strange, uncanny neatness to his appearance.  
The curve of his chest was prominent between his now-crossing arms, the rest of his body lanky beneath him.  
  
_...A figure fitting of the Ultimate Breeder,_ Nagito justified his probing eyes.  
He wasn't sure what to make of Gundham's uncertain glance, which was already beginning to ebb under his mask of stoicism.  
"Did I do something?"  
  
"...Nothing of importance," Gundham brushed off, collecting Nagito's 'sacrifices' in his hand before squinting at them suspiciously. One eye closed, the other drawing open.  
  
It was a funny expression, but Nagito was too busy holding his breath to laugh. "Oh, right... I didn't really do much, you're right... you're the architect of this nice castle, after all."  
  
"Mmf." Clearly not what Gundham meant based on that response, but with his continued silence, perhaps he did not care enough to make a clarification.  
  
_Mm._ Nagito sat by politely, readjusting his sitting position to be more comfortable on the shore.  
  
"...Why is it that you offer me this frivolous addition to my shrine?" Gundham finally asked.  
  
"...You mean why I helped you collect sea shells...?" Nagito asked.  
  
"That," Gundham confirmed, "and your desperation to be my thrall... do you wish to practice _evil **Kotodama** against me...!?_ For I shall have you know _this..._ such efforts shall get you nowhere."  
  
_...Koto... huh-?_  
"Ah, no... I don't have any special talents like that. I just thought you'd need some help, that's all." Slave to the ultimates.  
  
"..." Gundham didn't answer, leaning forward to line the bottom of his Devas' fortress with outwardly-spiraling shells. Fortifying the base, seemed like. "You've already come to _challenge me_ twice in one day... is it not clear that my _mental defenses_ are impervious? You shall never defeat me so easily... a mere _fiend_ like you can't even come close! It is impossible! It would do you well to keep your distance..."  
  
_Woah, woah, woah!_  
"Hey! I'm not here to challenge you! It's pretty obvious who would win... I mean, knowing my luck I'd probably faceplant into a sand dune before I could even land a hit on you." Nagito's legs crossed under him, hands folding placidly in his lap. "Just... what was it? You said I was your thrall?"  
  
"I did not say that."  
  
"...Oh, well," Nagito laughed. "I'd have you think of me as a _thrall_ before you thought of me as an enemy! You're just an admirable Ultimate, that's all! I don't mean any offense, really... if you find me annoying, I'm sure I could go somewhere else just as easily!"  
  
Gundham blinked once. Twice. Then opened his mouth to answer.  
  
But before words could escape him, a hushing, inky, unnatural darkness fell over the beach. Like the tendrils of night masking the sun.  
  
Nagito sat out of his eased posture, his eyes turning upwards.  
_Oh... that's not right..._


	3. Waiting Game

Cryptic voices over the speakers seemed to be a red flag for everyone, but Nagito saw these same scarlet banners in monochrome shades.

A waiting game... he'd expected to wait _longer_ than this for the true malevolent nature of this place to creep out of the shadows to haunt them all.

So what was it?

Was what that cryptic voice that made everyone stare slack-jawed at the monitors? That caused a pale, uncertain hue to cross everyone's face? Feeding their doubt, feeding their fear. Their growing, vulnerable fear?

How suddenly everyone felt scared. Nagito couldn't read people well - that was part of his illness. But there was something so obviously _disturbed_ about the way everyone's eyes moved down to stare at their half-nakedness as if every patch of exposed skin had a target drawn on.

And then in a wordless ritual they all climbed back onto the shore, getting changed and filing with varying speeds to the requested area in question. _Jabberwock Park._

And there waiting for them was Usami, her small round figure trembling before the golden statue that made the park's centerpiece.

The statue was silent, nothing more than the usual animals twining together, letting out silent screams and cries as they drew unmoving claws against one another's flesh.

She pointed her magical stick at the metallic sculpture, the rabbit's back faced her 'students,' but Nagito could imagine a determined enough look on her face as she spoke up.

"Wh-Where are you!? Where are you hiding?"

_Hiding?_ Someone was hiding? Was this the exciting _sixteenth student_ they'd all been missing?

His head was already abuzz with hopes for their identity. _Ultimate Radio Spokesperson? Ultimate Villain? Ultimate High-Pitched-Voice? Ultimate Prankster?_ Anything. _Anything._ He was already on the edge of his seat!

Or maybe this _was_ the tragedy that would rock the boat and put all of the ultimates on edge...! The one that would test their hope, and help them strive to a better, brighter future. Hope and determination in the face of a terrible, terrible wrong... _ah, now I'm just getting ahead of myself._

Nagito waited behind Usami, his eyes wide with anticipation. His fist drew tighter around itself, his breath catching. And holding.

And then there came a voice - the same one that had demanded they all arrange themselves here. The one that seemed to antagonize Usami so deeply.

"Puhuhuhuhu!" It was a laugh.

"H-Hey!" The rabbit stuttered. "Where are you!? Show yourself!"

But the laughter only rose an octave, becoming more mocking, more jeering, and more cruel. If Usami said any more, the cackles drowned her out.

The movement was sudden. A small monochrome blur sprung up, arcing over the statue and landing promptly on the ground before them all.

...

_Is that a teddy bear?_

Well, Nagito couldn't be too surprised just judging my Usami's appearance... but it was strange to find another nearly-identical animal was the source of all this drama...  
  
The bear waved a paw -- mm. Nub? Whatever it was. Its half-crazed smile widening at them all. The paw issued forth a row of sharp, metallic claws, silencing any murmurs rippling through the crowd of students.  
" _Lllllong time no see, guys!"_  
  
_Long time no see?_ Nagito sure didn't recognize this guy...  
  
A malicious glow flashed in the crimson eye of the animated doll as he rose from his seat, puffing his stuffed chest out in a prideful display of dominance. "I am Monokuma! The _headmaster_ of this aca-"  
  
His voice was cut off almost immediately as a small, rabbit-shaped figure fumbled through the crowd.. "There you are!" Usami accused, holding her magical staff outward in an accusatory manner.  
  
"Hey! Don't interrupt me!" The bear spat.  
But before he could continue, however, the rabbit doll was already upon him.  
  
The fuss was... strange to watch. It was difficult to tell exactly what was going on.  
Nagito watched passively, arms crossing over his chest as he observed the two battling animals. Robots? Dolls?  
  
They kicked up dust, summoning claws and ferocious sounds.  
And no one moved, all confused.

_Mesmerized_ and confused.  
  
And just like that, the bear suddenly tumbled from the conflict, defeated by the rabbit who now stood glowing over her rival.  
Raising the magic stick, the rabbit let out a triumphant cry: "Now that you've learned your lesson, don't _ever_ interfere with my school trip ever again!" And she swung her baton similar to some kind of Ultimate Golfer.  
  
The baton connecting roughly with self-proclaimed 'Monokuma,' the bear gave an awkward 'oof' sound before being flung haphazardly into the air.  
The doll arced, soaring over the palm trees and out of sight.  
The threat was eliminated... just like that.  
  
\--Mm, Nagito frowned, before twisting a smile onto his face with a polite applause. "Woah! Haha! Bravo!"  
The immediate conclusion that crossed his mind was one of deceit. _Well, wasn't this convenient?_ Their untrustworthy 'teacher' saved them all from a relatively similar-seeming threat... was this some tacky attempt to lure in their trust?  
  
And apparently it was working.  
"What a heated battle!" Akane spoke up first, voice raising to an energized shout. "Just watching it got my pumped up!"  
  
And the yakuza sighed immediately upon her remark. "What the hell was that just now?"  
  
Usami raised her arms to accept the praise, an unassuming cheerfulness abundant in her voice. "Despite my looks, I'm your teacher! I'm supposed to protect everyone, after all!"  
  
Nagito wet his lips, breathing out a strange, raspy half-sigh as his gaze flit over to Gundham, brooding on the sidelines. _What's that guy think of all this? With him being into all the things he is...?_  
  
And Gundham spoke readily. "That _'stick_ ' appears to be some kind of _exquisite blade...!_ Do you intend to kill us with that now?" His voice held no fear, level in its disinterested tone. As if rattling off a well-known fun fact, or perhaps a boring reading passage.  
  
Usami's button eyes blinked. "Huh?"  
  
Nagito smiled wryly, huffing out a 'joking' laugh as he waved an arm to reference his continuance of the point. "Or... perhaps you intend to make us all kill each other on this uninhabited island."  
The comment drew a few stares, so with a self-deprecating smile, Komaeda wiggled his fingers. 'I'm just joking!' A joke! All his words were jokes, of course. It was funny he thought he had the right to speak among them at all.  
It was easy to assure them that he wasn't just attempting to stir the pot. And perhaps he believed it himself. _A joke._  
  
He was a joke.  
  
"That may be necessary for our survival," Togami spoke up authoritatively, pushing up his glasses before continuing. "After all, food and water will eventually run scarce here."  
  
Usami seemed panicked by the ideas being passed between her students. "Th-That is definitely not going to happen here! Though in some ways you need to survive here, your lives aren't in any danger at all!"  
  
Mahiru exhaled an aggravated sigh. "Jeez, what are you talking about? There's no way killings are going to happen!"  
  
Nagito's jaw screwed itself shut. _Right._ No more fun. He'd upset an ultimate. Stupid, worthless Nagito…  
  
Souda clapped his hands, leaning forward. "She's right! We're on a school trip on a tropical island, right? We should make the most out of it!"  
  
And before Nagito truly thought it over, his jaw unclenched and began spilling poison, beautiful words again. It was so hard to fight off the urge to speak about his thoughts.  
His circling thoughts. Danger? Had they been in any real danger?  
The thought of a death made his heart throb with tension. A strange, primal desire. An uncanny desire.  
Tragedy to truly cement their hope... maybe?  
Perhaps he really was getting ahead of himself again, but the statement was more important than any others, and it may as well have escaped from his tongue sooner rather than later.  
"As long as there's hope," the lucky student interjected, "I personally... _don't mind_ killing or being killed!" Another subdued cackle shambled out of his throat like an enormous arachnid, before his bright, excited eyes focused down on his palms.  
It was good for them to know. There was nothing wrong with proposing the idea. Right?  
  
More unwanted attention. Deserved discomfort. Like a punchline without any laughter.  
  
He smiled through the usual emotion that came with it - the one he didn't have a name for. The one he couldn't discern.  
  
"F-For now," Mikan stuttered, her fingers pressing together, "it seems that as long as we don't do anything strange, we're not in any danger..."  
  
"Also," Chiaki added thoughtfully, "we can leave the island once we have enough **Hope Fragments,** right?"  
  
"That's what I've been saying from the beginning!" Usami chimed.  
  
_Hope Fragments..._ Nagito looked up again, intrigued. He should have been paying attention all along - _head out of the clouds!_ No more fantasizing about the ups and downs of hope.  
  
Hiyoko scoffed. "What? I didn't think you were _serious_ about that!"  
  
"Oh! It's very serious!" Usami insisted. "Here, let me explain!"  
  
And explain she did, inspiring another half-smile from the lucky student on the sidelines.  
A redundant, but hopeful message.  
Make friends! Rekindle love and friendship between your fellow ultimates!  
And be happy.  
_Be happy!_  
What a beautiful, impossible concept.  
  
His smile persisted, drifting into a melancholy low.  
Ah.  
Him and his ugly thoughts.  
The ones that enchanted him and tantalized him. The forbidden fantasies.  
The ones that intoxicated him, that he knew shouldn't. That he knew were bizarre. And wrong. _Wrong?_ Was he wrong?  
Or were they blind?  
Who here couldn't see?  
  
His sickly hands clutched his fragile arms, his eyes dipping down into the golden sand.  
Either way, his mind was polluted and sick.  
And he was the disgrace among the beautiful.  
He didn't deserve to be here.


	4. Glory Over Me

Gundham resigned himself to his quarters as nightfall overtook the mysterious landscape of the island.

There was a foreboding, mysterious cloak of obscurity that obfuscated them all from an apparent wrong with this place. They knew they were out of place, or perhaps out of time? Misplaced, certainly, but none could quite place their finger on why.

But so far no apparent threats were present - what had seemed to be some form of opposing force had been dispatched rather quickly. No more of that.

It had occurred to the Breeder, as perhaps it had occurred to others, that it was rather suspicious that the supposed 'threat' that was to arise had looked rather similar to their protector, and had been done away with in a haste. Did they originate from the same plane?

Twins beyond realms?

It hardly mattered at all, for Gundham was rather certain he could have batted an eye and done away with any idle threat due to the overwhelming power he surely possessed.

Now he'd simply taken to remaining idle within his room, casting an occasional frown out the glass pane that windowed his wall.

During a majority of the time on the island, the breeder had found nothing worthy of concern in the slightest. However, once he'd started to strip of his boots, Gundham caught sight of a vanishing silhouette outside his window slipping across the bridges and towards the gate. _Hrm?_

_Is that the malevolent banshee? The cruel, unspeakable beast that has entrapped us all here!? Perhaps 'he' is among us!_

Gundham re-laced his boots rapidly, leaning down and tugging his silken scarf away from his neck in order to allow his four dark devas the room they needed to clamor inside.

_Excellent!_

Glancing once more at the gated entryway to their communal area, now swinging closed, Gundham stepped through his door and stole into the night.

Beyond brushes and the looming moon overhead, Gundham felt no presences. At least, not beyond that of which he pursued.

The form was at a far less imposing stature than he'd imagined, but appeared somewhat relative to his own height. They were too far ahead of him to discern clearly, a hood pulled over their head.

They occasionally stopped to glance up at the inky ocean lapping desperately at the white, cold sand on the shore. The tropics at night flourished differently than in the day, indeed.

However, they wasted no time reaching the bridge to the mainland, crossing with no difficulty. Seemed they were diligent, whoever they were.

This was no random wandering. They were seeking something in particular...

Gundham's eyes narrowed further, his steps slowing ever so slightly as the figure in front of him abruptly pivoted around, staring at him with invisible eyes that hid beneath that hood.

"..." The hood was pulled down rather quickly, revealing an outburst of pale, spongey hair hidden beneath. "Oh! Gundham? Is that you...?"

Gundham grimaced. _Gh-!?_ Oh no. It was _that one._ What was he doing out here at such an ungodly hour?

He sighed softly, but approached without fear. " _You recognize the Forbidden One as he stalks the island in his hours of prime!_ Do you not _know_ how treacherous such an act is!? You could easily be destroyed if I so willed it... kehehe! The darkness is the domain of _none other_ than the Supreme Conquerer of Twilight!"

Nagito held up his arms in easy submission, giving a hearty laugh as he waved his hands assuringly. 'No, no!' "Not encroaching on your territory, I promise! Heh, heh, heh. Do you really walk around this late at night all the time?"

"Er - _yes._ Obviously _..._ " Gundham lied boastfully. "Have you no sense of caution? To roam about aimlessly upon _my_ unholy hour!?"

"Caution? Ah, sorry... I've never been smart," Komaeda admitted easily. "Though... I'm not _aimless..._ if you've been out here this whole time, maybe you'd know how to find what I'm looking for... _right?"_

"...Hmph. Well, it would depend what it is you seek..." Gundham began, tilting his words in an ominous manner as a residential hand perched beneath his chin. "What _bewitched_ artifact shall be your undoing!? Answer me, sinner!"

Nagito's eyes widened with a strange delight as Gundham began to boss him around. "Oh, well... you don't have to help someone like me... _but..._ you know that _bear_ _thing_ that Usami destroyed?" He raised a pointer finger, his words trailing up as he met Gundham's fearsome gaze for assurance. 'Right?'

"Yes?" Gundham prompted.

"Well... I was thinking that entire affair was a little suspicious... now, maybe it's _wrong_ of me to be suspicious but... I can't help but feel like we could benefit from asking a broken machine a few questions, right? Might be able to find out how we _got_ here that way..." Was that the truth?

Gundham's eyes closed in brief thought. "And your pitiful soul cries out for my guidance through the darkness?"

"Oh, well... if you don't mind, I'd be flattered..." Nagito managed a soft, restless smile.

"..." Gundham squinted, before giving a curt nod and a somewhat dramatized sigh. "I shall bestow you guidance through the darkness... for the feeble price of your _soul_ in eternal, hellish contract!"

Nagito blinked. "Huh? Serving you in the afterlife? Or during _this_ life? Or is this just for condemning me to hell at the end of it all?"

"I shall decide later," Gundham spoke authoritatively, seemingly rather happy with Nagito's willingness to submit his soul.

Nagito laughed raspily. "Sure, alright! It's all yours. I'm sure you could take better care of it than I have..." He rubbed his hands together briefly, before experimentally pivoting away. "I was thinking of checking the second island first... does that align with your guidance?"

"-It would _enough,_ " Gundham mused. "Though I have found no interloper _yet,_ it is your folly that shall take you wherever you intend to search. It is merely my role to ensure that my hellbeasts of darkness do not devour you before your search has concluded... the direction we take has no meaning in the great eyes of the Gods."

"Ah, makes sense," Nagito agreed easily, whistling softly as he started off for the second island. "Hey... that begs the question - is this a _one-time-only_ kind of thing? I'm afraid I only have one soul to give you... it'd be a shame if I had to poke around here at night some other time and didn't have you around to make sure I don't die..."

"..." That was... a fair question. "We shall see," Gundham dismissed again.

Nagito took the uncertainty well, smiling with a soft chuckle as he strode carelessly across the bridge to the second island.

Gundham trailed behind him, squinting suspiciously at each of his movements.

Nagito seemed.. unusually carefree for someone who had handed over his soul and was knowingly venturing into an unknown darkness that Gundham had described as malicious.

_A fool,_ Gundham dubbed quickly, but did not close the case just yet. _Hmph. Or precise..._ There was a fine line between courage and folly. Some were brave because they knew how to hold their own, and others because they were too unknowing to properly _fear._

It was a complicated balance.

Nagito watched his surroundings, and Gundham watched Nagito. _If anything truly existed within this darkness, it would surely_ _devour him..._ What, with all his humming, at the very least. He was lucky to have contracted Gundham, or else even something as small as a feral rodent might have snatched up the frail boy...

Nagito's walk suddenly slowed, however, as the Lucky Student suddenly dipping into silence. His head bobbed at the tall, daunting shape of a rather tall ruin.

"...Huh," he exhaled.

"What?" Gundham questioned, taking up a place at Komaeda's side as he stared through the blanketing shades of night at the sky-climbing silhouette.

The ruins were easy enough to distinguish despite the lack of clarifying light. Creeping up the walls of the establishment were thick bundles of ivy. The roots of a tall, foreboding tree knotted in wicked twists up the side of the walls, displacing stones and plaster on its yearning journey towards the absent sun.

The doors were closed and brooding, invisible in the darkness. It was common knowledge that eluded to them.

The crest of the roof seemed... _familiar._ Gundham's expression hardened as his multi-colored eyes drifted off to Nagito's still face.

"...Ah..." Nagito stretched out a hand, squinting meaningfully at the obscure shape of the tower. The hunt for Monokuma seemed distant to him now, all in an instant. "...Is that... _Hope's Peak Academy_?"

_Hrm?_ Was it? Eyeing the crest of the tower again, Gundham took in the view a second guided time.

"...It cannot be," he dismissed quickly, approaching the door without awaiting Nagito's subservient following. "'Tis impossible... a mere _mirage_ to bait your idle, mortal temptations. Why, it _must_ be nothing more than _an illusion..._ "

"Illusion...?" Nagito, hypnotized by the feigning tower, kept his hand outstretched and approached the ruins. "Well... can't be here for no reason, right?"

"...Mm." Gundham begrudgingly followed along.

The Lucky Student's hand graced the door, smoothing over the words engraved upon the entryway. "...Huh. If I'm reading this right... it says _future._ "

It was difficult to make out in the darkness. Gundham quietly tugged the rim of his wine-colored scarf down, allowing his Devas to catch a glimpse of the carvings for themselves. The quartet tribbled out their agreements with Nagito's statement.

" _Future..._ " Gundham butchered the pronunciation purposefully, evoking a dramatic curvature upon his single-worded sentence. "Hrm... let me ask, the _future_ of _what?_ Is this... the summoning point of the _eldest ancient ones, sleeping?"_

"...Ah, no," Nagito blew off too quickly, dipping his head in respectful apology. "I'm... not sure what it is. Just weird to find it, I guess. Heh, heh. Uh..." He felt along the door, giving a soft 'huh' as his hand tapped a square box-like object on the side of the entryway. "...Hm. This feels like keypad... not like we can type in the dark, though."

"...I see," Gundham drew nearer to inspect the supposed existence for himself. Sure enough, it was fairly easy to discern the existence of a numbered selection of keys. The sky was just dim enough to prevent any form of clarity to the buttons' labels.

"...It would appear that for _a low-down scoundrel_ as the likes of you are," Gundham calculated, "it would be _wise_ to slumber beneath the somber clutches of night, and attempt your frivolous charades again upon daybreak."

"...In the day?" Nagito leaned a hand against the wall, eyeing a large, dangerous protrusion from the wall. "Need the _daylight_ in my eye in order to see this gun take a shot at me... right? Haha!"

Gundham didn't laugh, for there was hardly a thing to laugh at. "...Tch," he dismissed.

"A-Ah, wait, sorry... you're right. We _should_ try coming here again when we can see..." He wiped his hands quickly on his green-tinted jacket before turning on the building altogether. "...Ah, well. 'We' assuming you'd come with me. My talent... for all its credit in Hope's Peak Academy, anyway... is pretty useless. I could use your dark aura to protect me from death! And to see what _doesn't_ work to open it. You know... in case I die. But... I understand if you wouldn't want to spend time with-" He swallowed a word, chuckling instead. "Ah, _a worm,_ like you said."

Hm. As much as Gundham wanted to dismiss this bug to his merry mischief, a strange curiosity gnawed at him. Komaeda was correct in assuming this building held some... _grand importance_ in its aura. Its deceiving shape parodied that of Hope's Peak Academy, and yet proved impossible.

Perhaps from another world? Another universe? Did the Gods jeer at them with cheap illusions?

Because upon this time and this plane, Hope's Peak could _never_ exist here.

The firearm the door bore only asserted itself as a challenge that Tanaka was suddenly hungry to conquer.

"Hmph... if only to fulfill your pitiful contract, I shall come. For surely you are to perish without the All-Seeing Eye upon you."

He could make out Nagito smiling through the absent lighting. "...Ah, really...? Haha - I'm flattered! Thank you.. uh, All-Seeing Eye..."

Gundham had to sigh. "-It is not Iwho possesses that title... I can merely _summon and wield_ the great powers of this world and channel them at my whim! The All-Seeing Eye shall be _no more_ to me than a mere instrument! Such is the power of the Tanaka Empire!"

Gundham's voice echoed eerily throughout the dark - he rather liked it, if only he didn't feel the strange dread that he'd lured an unseen, watchful eye.

Nagito clapped encouragingly, though, mustering a cheery laugh. "Hey, bravo! Haha! All the more reason I need you, right...?" He sighed outwardly, a tired hand finding its place on his hip as his face inclined towards the sand below.

"...Anyway... I know we haven't gotten far but... I think it's about time we headed back. Do you think we could meet here tomorrow...? I can tell you a few other things I noticed - and we could start looking around for that password!"

"..." Gundham squinted. "And what of that mechanical ursine? Is it not that artifact that you sought? You are fruitless in that pursuit..."

Nagito waved off the idea quickly. "The black'll blend in with the night... might be smarter if I start sniffing it out in the morning - you know, after we meet up! The oil'll start burning in the sun... and maybe some of the landscape's damage will be easier to read. Right?" He seemed expectant: 'you know about that, don't you?'

_...'Being the Ultimate Breeder,'_ Gundham's thoughts concluded the silent question. _Why... for my knowledge of animal kingdoms?_ "Correct," he tsk'd.

Nagito's eyes closed, satisfied. "Great! Alright... thanks for letting me know. I'm sure after a bit of scouting we should be able to find it."

Gundham didn't like how familiar this wretch had become with the word ' _we_.' "Do not associate yourself with humanity's greatest monster! Do you know what _precautions_ you overstep!? Such an affair is none of my desire."

"...Ah, well. Alright," Nagito accepted quickly, rubbing his palms together in a brief flurry of motion before huffing soft breaths into his cupped hands. "Let's go... getting a little chilly out here."

"Mm." Gundham said nothing, merely flicking his wrist as a quick heeling command before setting off for the cabins.

For most of the way, Gundham could easily hear Nagito's footsteps behind padding along behind him. He followed easily like a trained hellhound. However, the moment Gundham floated through the gates, the pursuing steps fell silent.

The breeder glanced back once, squinting uncertainly at the disappearing sidewalk behind him.

Nagito was gone.

...

Gundham huffed, turning to face the gate and yet... stopping.

He would leave it open, for as distant as he was, Gundham never yearned for cruelty or misfortune to rain upon insignificant people like that - even rather intrusive ones.

Glancing left and right once, Gundham concluded that he was likely about.

There was no reason to wait for him, as there wasn't any danger... _funny. He did not mention to me his whereabouts..._

How vaguely... misleading, based upon what he'd come to believe of the other.

Ah, perhaps he'd slipped ahead or slipped behind. Gundham sensed no dangerous aura upon the air, and thus returned to his cabin without much of a second thought.

He was certain he would see Komaeda tomorrow - and he would.

_Is it... unwise not to be certain he's found his cabin?_ But Gundham was used to allowing the Darwinian laws unfold, and allowing mortals to fend for themselves. He had to reason to interlope.

And somewhere, having slipped away from his partner and taken to exploring the expanse of sea-combed land again, Nagito didn't sleep.


	5. Riddle Me This

The night had come and gone, and as promised Gundham begrudgingly located Nagito at the ruins again under the mere temptation of unlocking the devilish secret of the sealed-up tower.

Nagito had rested well after an eventful and productive night, waking early in the morning and not saying a word to anyone. He ate, he neglected to shower, and he shuffled hurriedly over to his promised destination.

Gundham took longer to arrive, Nagito having already examined the runes upon the wall and squinted at the gun wired into the door by the time the breeder finally made his entrance.

Fashionably late, of course, waving his arms in a majestic display of ceremony - it was Gundham. Who else? "Have you found the answer to the Sphinx's riddle as of yet?"

"Not yet," Nagito hummed, giving a quick smile backward as he caressed the selection of keys carefully. "Considering taking a lucky guess... I wouldn't be a terrible loss. Good way to see if my talent is worth anything at all..." He hadn't opened his floodgates of extreme self-resentment yet. Nagito pondered briefly how long it would take him to slip up and start throwing 'garbage' into every other sentence.

It felt like masking his true identity. 'Me, garbage.' Synonymous.

And that was when Gundham asked. "Where did you disappear to upon the last wake of dusk...?".

Nagito blinked, glancing back with a soft 'huh' as he toyed with the ruins' password keypad. Then he paused, finding a natural smile as he pivoted towards Gundham. "Oh... you mean when we got separated yesterday? On the way back to the cabins?"

"Yes," Gundham quipped briefly.

"..." Nagito shrugged diplomatically, exhaling a soft chuckle. "Ah, well... I'll be frank... it's not hard to imagine that a useless, directionless lucky student like me ended up taking a wrong turn! By the time I got back, you'd already gone to bed! Didn't find anything that's worth talking about yet..."

"..." Gundham squinted, nodding _slowly._ "Hmph. I see." He quieted. It was hard to tell what he suspected - or didn't. "...The riddle. You attempt to discern it at random? Have you uncovered nothing at all?" He was growing seemingly distant with disappointment.

Once again, though, he was especially hard to read. Nagito was never good with this kind of thing.

"Well... the door... it says _**Future,**_ doesn't it...? It makes you wonder..." He nodded offhandedly to the weapon on the door. "And I'm assuming that if we get this wrong... that thing'll blow us to bits. Heh, heh." Nagito rested a hand under his chin, exhaling a soft sound at the forbidden keypad. "So...I _shouldn't_ try the password...?"

"If you are to be assailed by hellfire for a mere misstep, then no..." Gundham scolded, "'tis a foolish mistake to get ahead of yourself. You may be nothing more than a _lowly human,_ but even I am not so cruel as to yearn for a meaningless death..."

"..." Nagito found himself smiling lightly, exhaling a breathy sound as his arms crossed. "Oh... you don't want me to die?" He sounded vaguely excited about it, as if the idea was entirely foreign. _Wow! Even someone as meaningless as me isn't worth expending?_ He was flattered by the idea of his own meaning as it came from a talented student's mouth. How rare! How flattering! Especially Gundham, who always seemed so indifferent to the idea of harm befalling him...

Ah, maybe garbage was reading too much into the faintest allusion to care.

_Yeah. That's it._ It wasn't anything special, he realized.

"Nngh... sorry. Got carried away! Haha..." He waved a hand, drawing a step away from the door. "Anyway - we'll have to look around _somewhere else_ for the password... I searched this whole place already. Nothing interesting aside from the 'future' on the door..." And the fact, of course, that they were standing in the looming, malevolent shadow of Hope's Peak Academy.

Nagito bit his tongue, finding himself staring mesmerized at the mummified remains of the school he adored. Once majestic, once beautiful, once bursting with hope. Once filled with wonderful, breathtaking, talented people...

A ghost of his admiration. He was terrified. Terrified of what had become of it.

He had to remember Gundham's first assumption, for it made the most sense: _it's a fake._ He couldn't commit to the concept, but it was a touchstone of coping that he could clutch to as they navigated the tangles of uncertainty shrouding the truth of their imprisonment.

"...I wonder if it has to do with the sixteenth student..." Nagito admitted, lingering outside the ruins for a moment of hypnotized lure. He managed to look away, discarding the doubts muddling his mind with relative ease. "You know... I'm sure you noticed that there are only _fifteen_ people here... isn't it a little weird that there aren't _sixteen?_ After all... it's sixteen students to make a class, right...?"

"..." Gundham's eyes closed, exhaling a soft 'hmm.' "That is a truthful observation," he admitted. "Does it correlate with the door?"

"Ah... just something I noticed. It's just a guess." His pale eyes shifted slightly, contacting the ground. _Sixteenth student..._

Something didn't make sense about all this. Almost abruptly, the idea of abandoning Gundham and continuing the search entirely on his lonesome became apparent to him. He could work faster, more efficiently - alone. He was so, so used to alone. And still... _ah, jeez._ He'd somehow managed to swindle Gundham's tolerance. Could he really blow that off? Maybe he could do single-handed investigation on his own later.

He wasn't sure how keen Gundham was just yet, but he wasn't _unhelpful,_ either. His company was a treat. Nagito, a pathetic, disgusting bug, would be insulting his own morals if he were to cast out aid from an undeserved resource.

He had to keep the breeder from getting bored for now. "Well... this is important to resolve... you wouldn't know where to start, would you? Do you think you could sense the answer somehow?" He doubted it, but it sounded like the kind of thing Gundham would say, or even believe himself to be capable of.

"..." Gundham squinted lightly, exhaling a standoffish scoff. "Hrm... we must call upon the guardian Sphinx and confound the terrible beast... only then shall the wicked arm of the fortress be lowered to our whim. A mere human like you could never understand..."

"..." Nagito's lips pressed together, glancing quickly around the building. "Mm... I don't see a 'sphinx' anywhere... maybe it's somewhere else on the island...?"

"..." Gundham leaned forward, perking what could have been a brow, had it been present. "Do you suggest that that _beast_ is somewhere _else_ upon this skerry, hidden from even _my_ evil fourth eye?" He paused, huffing out a soft 'hm.' He hadn't anticipated such an eager response, perhaps. "...Tch. There must be runes that align with this one elsewhere. Come how, before your soul withers from your chest into its deceitful cage within my chambers..."

Ah, right! His imprisoned, sold-off soul! "Ah, of course! Don't want to die before I can even find the password! Heh, heh, heh...!"

Nagito followed Gundham, though wasn't certain where he lead the both of them.

"'Ya know," Nagito contemplated, "could ask Usami, couldn't we? Not sure how much she'd tell us, but she _could_ always give a clue into that last student..."

Would Usami sense his intentions? His misguided, swindling intentions? The fact that Nagito sought truth because it gave him control? Because he wanted to _manipulate_ the circumstance and fuel the healthy development of hope?

_There's got to be_ something _important around here..._

"...I take it she would feign were we to ask... has she not shrouded the truth from us thus far already?" Gundham figured.

"Ah, right... well, worth a shot anyway," Nagito cleared his throat.

Gundham slowed, eventually reaching a halt. "-Hmph. I merely wish to remind you that I keep your company as nothing more than a clever _bauble_ is to be kept. Such a thing you seem to forgot." Establishing dominance.

' _I'm only hanging out with you because I have to.' That right?_ "Oh... because - I'm just a filthy, disgusting, miserable human, right?" Nagito laughed cheerily. "Only makes sense! I won't get in your way." Submission to the dominance, without even the faintest hint of resistance.

"...Good instincts," Gundham praised, voice growing lighter as his inflection flicked upward on the final syllable. Something about his voice repressed a strange hesitance. "You should consider it grand good fortune that I choose to allow your pursuit at all... and do not merely sever the threads of the universe's fabrics and destroy this _lowly_ world."

_Right._ Not very convincing, but Nagito nodded eagerly all the same. "Got it! Thanks for letting me string along, then... heh, heh, heh."

"Tch. Though be warned... do not draw too closely. My magical beasts have a thirst to kill, so those who value their life should refrain from unguarded approach."

"Ah, well, not a problem at all for me!" Nagito laughed cheekily, closing his eyes as a welcoming smile blossomed on his face. "I mean... I don't mind if I die out here. It'd be a shame if it wasn't for something more useful..." Oh. He'd almost started off on a tangent there.

He opened his eyes to find Gundham's disapproving stare fixated on him.

"...Sorry. Don't worry about what I said. I'm just a garbage human. Like I said! Right?"

...The breeder turned, seeking to continue on without the other, before making a hasty pivot back. "Tell me, what is your true name?"

Nagito blinked. _Huh?_ "Nagito Komaeda, the Ultimate Lucky Student..." _Did he already forget?_

"I said your _true_ name..." Gundham sighed, giving him an expectant nod.

_Uhhh..._ shoot. He was already going to screw this whole thing up just because he only had one name! _Maybe he means a fancy name like he has... 'Lord of ice?'_ "Don't have anything like that, unfortunately... I'm not special at all."

The more he spoke, the more his self-resentment seeped out. There we go. He didn't have much to lose... his only concern was scaring the breeder away. _I'm just buying into his reception of me, right?_ He wouldn't care about that.

"...Then... what is your hidden ability!?" Gundham adopted a shifted stance, absent brows furrowing.

"...Aside from my luck? I don't have any talent at all... that is, if you can even consider something like _luck_ a talent."

"Tch. You think I speak of talent," Gundham scoffed haughtily. "I meant of the _great arcane_ variety..."

Nagito blinked, before shaking his head. "Uh... nope. Definitely don't have anything like that. If I did... maybe I could have used it to open that door! Or to find the password to those ruins! Something like that..." He paused, before forcing another laugh. How many times had he choked up a chuckle in this conversation alone? It was a miracle Gundham wasn't sick of listening to him...

Ah, maybe he already was.

"...Hmph. So you really _are_ nothing more than a human," Gundham's arms crossed, multi-colored eyes examining Komaeda for any other semblance of worth. "I suppose it can't be helped."

Without another word, he'd already started walking off again.

_H-Hey!_ Nagito followed him rapidly, trying to keep in stride with the other. "...Sorry for being so disappointing. If you'd like to talk about _your_ talent instead, I'd be all ears! After all, the Ultimate Breeder must be full of amazing insights!" He paused, trying to remember something Gundham had said before. "What was that thing you said? About using yourself as a bed?"

"Hmph. The secret art of the Tanaka Empire..." Gundham squinted, as if trying to detect any deceitful subtexts within the question itself. "You wish to know of my demon beast synthesis?"

Nagito nodded, perhaps a little too eagerly. "Yeah!"

"...It's free for you to ask," Gundham allowed, "but be certain that you try _not_ to understand... after knowing my true terror, it'll be quite a sight to see how long your sanity lasts!" A smile crept onto his face, seemingly expectant for one of Nagito's marveling praises.

"Got it! I won't lose my mind at you, I promise! Have to find _that password_ before managing that." Well, he'd see. Nagito knew his poor excuse for a brain was melting rapidly inside his sickened skull. Perhaps he _would_ lose his mind - but not for the reason Gundham suspected. He'd be alright with the misconception, though. To wither away on the off-chance of supplying Gundham with one final ego boost. Was that right?

"Hm. Well," Gundham began, "I've tamed various creatures, such as the Midguard serpent, the Cerberus, the Phoenix of legend... even the Pegasus."

"Oh, incredible!" Nagito's voice grew more yearning as he praised, his head tilting to the side. "Beautiful accomplishments, fitting of the Ultimate Breeder!" He took each description with a grain of salt - what did he _really_ mean? Snakes, dogs, birds, horses? _Still a talented accomplishment, I'm sure._ "And how did you do that?" He wanted to devour his talent and thrive upon the hope it supplied. Nagito was like a leech. _Feed me. Feed me._

"I suppose I could tell a mere henchman," Gundham contemplated aloud, "I don't believe you'll get in my way..."

"Never!" Nagito promised.

They reached another bridge, Nagito taking a moment to squint across for any sign of Usami. _Nothing yet..._ Where was she? Where was _any_ hint at the password? _Locked up somewhere?_ "

"You must repeatedly utter the phrase... ' _good girl, good girl!'_ The demonbeast must know that there is no ill will on your end! In order to do that, you must appear innocent."

...A sick, contemplative smile rested on Nagito's face. _Huh._ It was funny. That... was almost like what he did when he wanted to lure the ultimates. He'd found himself falling into the practice already. Appear innocent, ask them questions to ease them into an unknowing sense of safety. Ask, ask, ask. And, well, hopefully soon, pull the puppet strings of their hope. "Right. I-" _Can do that!_ But he'd just promised not to get in Gundham's way. Here was that practice. _Appearing innocent..._ "Makes sense."

"...Mm. Of course, there are some that like to be touched, and some that don't. It's better to keep these basics down."

"Got it." Nagito smiled softly, rapidly taking his fill of each and every word of advice he could get. It was fascinating - invigorating, inspiring! Nagito gently allowed himself to be caressed by his own obsession. _Sedate me! Enthrall me!_ Let him lick your shoes and worship your talent and hope! "Thanks for the advice! I'll keep it in mind if I ever get another dog..."

He wouldn't. Another _dog_ would almost certainly get hit by another _truck_. Komaeda killed what he loved.

Nagito didn't take to social cues very well, but he did notice the softening of Gundham's expression when he spoke about animals. _...That's nice._ A real connection. Ultimate Breeder - made sense.

"...Your previous hellhound," Gundham entertained, "...what of them?"

"...Huh?" Gundham... wanted to know something about _Nagito?_ Or his dog, anyway. Still a treat. "Oh. Heh, heh. Sure... he was pretty big. And super fluffy, too. Used to let me hug him back when I was a little kid." A hesitant, genuine smile wormed onto his face. "He was my best friend, really. I used to take him on walks everywhere, too! Really calm... that's why the truck was so surprising, you know. Saw it happen... it's just too bad. Didn't really have any pets after that, though." And here was a step latter to the real object of obsession. "...It was my _luck's_ fault it happened."

"Your _luck?_ " Gundham wasn't convinced, having seemed more enraptured by the details about Nagito's dog's tragic demise than his talent's fault in the incident.

"Yep... well, if you believe in that sort of thing. I-It wasn't luck that my _dog_ died... but that tragic outcome lead to a result that could be considered _good luck._ Does.... that make sense?"

"...It would sound devious," Gundham admitted.

"...Ah, you think I'm lying?" Nagito sighed.

"No. 'Twas not my statement. Your claim is merely interesting... it would suggest that Causality's will centers around your torment and your recompense all at once."

"Ah, well," Nagito waved a hand quickly. He loved, loved, _loved_ being able to talk about his miserable talent and deserved, desolate past, but he had to stay true. "I happen to think my talent is extremely boring... but if you're talking about my _luck cycles..._ then that's about right. Bad luck... offset by good luck! Take right now as an example - we're stuck on an island without a password to the ruin, and no idea what's going on! Right?"

"...Right," Gundham allowed.

"Right," Nagito said, "this current situation... is foreshadowing the Ultimate Luck that will be arriving afterward."

"..." Gundham squinted. "The hinges of your misfortune come 'round again in good graces and tidings of favorable fate?"

"Yeah," Nagito assumed that what he'd said lined up with it, "if everything that's happening now seems like _bad_ luck... it's going to result in _good_ luck in the end! As long as I exist, that'll definitely happen!"

"I see..." Gundham mused, seeming fairly intrigued now. "Your presence sways the outcome of destiny..."

"Yeah, I guess. That's a nice way to put it. I'll give an example!" He snapped his fingers, before isolating an index finger and extending it to his temple. "Let's say one of your four Devas got injured - bad luck, right?"

"'Tis not _luck_ at all... a mere happenstance under the Gods' eyes."

"...Right, just stay with me," Nagito insisted. "And let's say you go to the vet, and there you meet a lovely nurse! She takes care of your Deva, and you two fall in love, and become a beautiful happy couple! Isn't that good luck?"

"No," Gundham scoffed.

"...It's not?" Nagito blinked.

"'Tis impossible. A mere human?" He laughed dryly. "Do you think me easily swayed? I hold no merit for such frail concepts."

Nngh! _Shoot!_ He didn't like that, did he? What _did_ Gundham like, then? Perhaps Nagito had been projecting his own starvation for love onto the other, and had made a mistake. "...Alright, I'll try again. Let's say your Deva gets stolen!"

"My guard is impeccable," Gundham warned.

"Hypothetically," Nagito assured. "Let's say you're down on your cash and your _Dark Deva_ is stolen. You're able to track down the thief, and when you do, you find a whole bunch of other stolen animals! And because of that, not only do you get your Deva back, but you're able to return a bunch of animals to their original, loving homes! As well as collecting all the _reward money_ for finding them! And with that money, you could buy a bigger enclosure, or some more pet food, or a new ring, or anything! That would be good luck, right? Or, if you don't believe in luck, a good outcome that came from that bad one. Right?"

"...Right." Gundham nodded. "...I see. I believe I understand your realm of existence now. Are you cursed? Or blessed?"

_Huh?_ "You mean my luck?"

"You attempted to dissuade me of your special ability, but you mentioned not being affected by natural auras such as this. Is it a _curse?_ Or a _blessing?_ "

_Curse,_ Nagito almost spat out immediately. His luck had stolen his dog, his parents, his childhood, his sanity, his health, his happiness. His ability to be a happy, functional human being. It was a garbage, worthless talent. But he thought. He reconsidered. _Well... it is a talent. It_ does _allow me to be a stepping stone for hope..._ "...Huh. Come back to me on that one. I'll think of a good answer soon."

"Very well." Gundham turned his head away, eyeing the arc of the sun above them. "We lose time, the secondary feasting hour is nearly upon us now."

"Lunch already?" Asked a bewildered Nagito.

"Yes," Gundham stated, miffed at his need to repeat the statement. "Consult that devious 'Usami' if you must - and inquire upon there whereabouts of that absent student. As well as the loss of that... _other_ ursine automaton..."

"Got it!" Nagito accepted his orders. "Then I report back to you? When should I?"

"..." Gundham had to think for a moment. "I've businesses to attend to... I tire of humanity - perhaps upon the stroke of midnight we may meet again."

Komaeda gave a diligent nod. "Midnight... alright. Another night mission?"

"Mm. No. We shall share our findings and act upon them in the day, unless the Gods of destruction demand a sacrifice upon the instance." Gundham's gaze traveled, a hand resting beneath his chin. "Hmph."

"...Hm?" Nagito waited for him to finish.

"I shall seek the mystic holy word of entry."

Nagito nodded, feigning easily that he wouldn't attempt doing the very same thing the next moment he had the chance. "Alright. Sounds good to me. See you then!" He raised a hand to wave, but with a quick nod, Gundham had already stalked into the underbrush.

As always, Nagito was alone again.


	6. Coercion

She was unassuming as always, but the lucky student stalked closer with an impervious smile on his face. Serpentine, somehow.

Usami blinked, spinning around gracefully in order to greet the approaching Nagito. Rising to her tip-toes, the bunny's nub-like arms spread in a warm welcome. "Oh, a student! Hello! Love, love!"

_'Love, love..._ ' what plagued, naive optimism. Nagito laughed without laughing. "Hey! Heh, heh, heh..." He raised a hand to give a friendly wave, before exhaling a breathy pant. "Had a question, actually... do you think you could _indulge_ me for a little while?"

"Oh! Well, yes! Anything to help you feel more comfortable on this _Heart-Throbbing School Trip!_ " She sprung up, waving her arms attentively.

Nagito breathed out a chuckle, raising a bony finger and cocking his head up, mouth gaped in a poise of audacious attitude. "Now then... _where's the sixteenth_ _student?_ " Start with the easy thing first.

Usami stopped waving her arms, suddenly reclining back to the ground. "Huh? Sixteenth student?" She seemed relatively bewildered.

"Yeah... sixteenth student..." He leaned forward, squinting at the rabbit doll with an analytical arrogance. "I mean, there are fifteen of us here... right? But there's supposed to be _sixteen_ students in a Hope's Peak classroom, unless I'm misremembering." He wasn't. Nagito may have been useless, meager, disgusting garbage, but he was devoted to the practice of the Ultimate students. He _knew_ what a hypothetical classroom looked like.

"What... did they get _lost?_ Did they _die?_ " Tempting, tempting further. Push her buttons.

"Ha-wha-wha!?" Usami startled, shaking her head rapidly. "No, no, no! Nothing like that at all! There are only fifteen of you!"

"So we're not a class?" Nagito countered, taking no care at all to spare her feelings. He gave a raspy chuckle, giving a meager shrug. "...Or... what? What's the story, then?"

"No one is lost _or_ dead! Nobody is going to get hurt on the _Heart-Throbbing School Trip!_ " Frantic now. She was so easy to sway, but so hard to pull information out of...

"Then why can't you tell me?" He feigned a frown.

"There _is_ nothing to tell! There are only fifteen of you in the class! There are fifteen of you on the island, and no one is missing at all!"

"..." And suddenly he collapsed into a carefree laugh, lifting the shading on the mood in a tense wake of assurance. "Ah, alright... why are we here again? Hope fragments?"

She relieved visibly. "Yes! Hope Fragments! Here to make friends with all your classmates, and cultivate hope! Love, love!"

_Hope..._ Nagito's smile adopted an upward curvature at the word. He nodded. "...Right. Makes sense."

He waited for her to smile.

"-So what's the password to the ruins?" He interrogated casually.

Usami jumped back, blinking a few times before regaining her composure.. "The ruins?"

"Yeah... those ruins. The ones that look a lot like _Hope's Peak Academy..._ I'm sure you know the ones I mean. On the second island! Any way to get in there? Gundham and I have been trying to solve it as we cultivate hope in each other! It's teamwork, right?" He forced a laugh, twisting the knife further. "Just like you wanted... everyone starting to get along!"

"..." Usami erupted in a sweat - somewhat distressingly, Nagito realized, considering the fact she was a robotic rabbit doll. _Did someone program you to sweat?_ That was a little weird.

"Well, I'm glad to hear you're all collecting hope fragments together!" Usami declared excitedly, "but those ruins could be very, very dangerous! As your teacher, I have to _forbid_ you from touching that door. It's just not safe! You and Gundham can go to the amusement park together instead! Or maybe the beach! Or the diner! Don't you think that sounds fun?

...Yeah, it did sound fun, actually. _Wonder if Gundham would even like stuff like that..._ Nagito couldn't exactly imagine what it would be like to be Gundham, faced with an elaborate maze of 'human' sources of entertainment. But that wasn't the important gain from her comment. _Ah. She doesn't want us in there, does she?_ A small, twisted smile took his expression. "Ah... I get it. You don't want us poking around in there... it would be such a shame to disappoint a teacher, wouldn't it?"

Usami seemed to ease immediately upon his spur of words. "Exactly! Your safety is my tip-top priority! Please, don't go to those ruins anymore! This School Trip is about _safety,_ just as much as it is about getting along!"

"..." Nagito's face lit up deceptively. "Haha," he interluded. "Got it! All of that makes sense. Thank you for your insight! I'll tell Gundham what you said!"

Usami's weight shifted between her feet, a cheerful aura radiating from her now. "Thank you! Love, love! You two have fun!"

"Ah, we will! See ya!" He waved quietly, exhaling a raspy laugh as he pivoted on his heel and strode away. His hands tucked neatly into his pockets, a soft breath leaving his lips as he glanced up and around at the tropical shades of the island.

He hadn't found out much. His stride slowed - perhaps if he turned again and began a more elaborate interrogation for the sixteenth student...

_Ah,_ that wasn't right. He had to play his more brutal hands later. No use in putting all your cards on the table right away. That was how you _lost_ a game of chicken.

With a soft, complacent hum, Nagito was off in thought again.

_You... what are you hiding?_

_What's so dangerous_ _that we can't know?_

_And how do I find it out anyway?_


	7. Consultation

Nagito didn't speak to Gundham directly after that. He spent his time wandering around, casting a friendly wave in the direction of passing Ultimates, occasionally receiving some in return. He poked around inside the market, simply passing time as he cast wary eyes upon the camera in the corner of every room.  
  
_The cameras._ Ah, shoot. Was Usami watching them through those? _Probably. Or at least someone is. Jeez...  
  
_"That's annoying," he noted audibly to himself, shuffling over to the vending machine and taking a cautious glance inside. He spent no monocoins, hoping the action wouldn't be too conspicuous.  
  
And after that, he stalked around the island, sticking his head into every location he passed. Wandering idly between locations and searching diligently for the screened lenses of yellow-colored camcorders. _Watching us._ Someone was _always_ watching.  
The more he started to actively seek them, the more apparent they became. Who exactly was staring at them? It was like no matter where they were, they were being watched.  
  
Everyone on the island had eyes on them.  
There were only a few name places that Nagito was able to discover without cameras. He hadn't the paper to scrawl it down, but he committed each absence to his memory. His asking of questions the night before had likely been suspicious - he had to wonder how closely his actions were being monitored now.  
Were they right to be so suspicious? _Yeah... probably._ Perhaps if Nagito hadn't had Gundham, an ultimate, placing expectations on him, he wouldn't have interfered at all. Perhaps he'd have given up and left it to the more significant players in this game to uncover the truth.  
But there was always a position of power that came from knowing, so this was no loss, either.  
Besides, he was aiding Gundham. _And what will the Ultimate Breeder do? How will_ he _navigate what's going on?_ He'd have to see.  
Perhaps nothing was hiding after all, but no matter the outcome, Nagito was pleased to aid.  
  
The rest of the day he didn't speak much to Gundham, the afternoon giving them no second glance as it raced by.  
However, at the conclusion of dinnertime, Nagito found himself succumbing to a ghostly draw towards his very own partner-in-crime.  
"Ah... hey, Gundham! Find anything?" He made sure to keep his voice friendly as it could be at such an unassuming volume. Before the other could respond, though, Nagito gestured with a beckoning finger and pulled away from the conversation.  
"Ah, wait. This way," he urged.  
Komaeda tucked his hands into his pockets, eyes probing for cameras as he took to the winding sidewalk enclosing the first island.  
A glance back allowed him to witnessed the perturbed expression that only Tanaka could give when being bossed to _follow_ another person. Soon enough, though, he fell into step with the lucky student.  
  
"Yes?" 'This better be good,' Gundham's tone warned.  
  
"Ah, good to see you. Sorry, the cameras might've picked up on what we're up to," Nagito warned. "Don't want anyone dissuading our investigation, do we?"  
  
"..." Gundham nodded slowly. "Hmph." Seemed like a yes.  
  
Nagito continued. "So, anyway... I asked Usami."  
  
"What was her sentiment?"  
  
"Nothing. She wouldn't tell me anything... she denied there being a sixteenth student at all! Isn't that a little weird...?" He nodded to his own statement, releasing a doting sigh. _Anyway._ "As for the ruins... she didn't say anything about it. Said that we should stay away from it, though, so it seems like she's hiding something."  
Felt strange to be so openly helpful. Nagito usually pulled puppet strings from the shadows and used indirect, foreboding language to slip information into people's mouths. It was strangely relieving to be open about his thoughts, but the urge to play deceitful tugged at his nerves. _Ah, come on, focus!_ He had no reason to be riddlesome now. At least, not yet. "Definitely worth investigating, anyway... here's the problem. She said she forbade us from poking around there anymore. So... may have to start minding the cameras, and looking at the ruins at night. The one problem with asking all those questions is she's a bit suspicious of us now...”  
  
"...I see," Gundham sighed quietly, drawing a hand up and posing it dramatically across his face.  
  
"..." Nagito paused, allowing a silence to blanket them. "So. Any, uh, clues about closed-off locations? Or hints about the password?"  
  
"Hrmm, well,” Gundham began, “there is that _old building_ that resides beside the dining hall - whose doors remain unopened. More potent, however, is that one lonesome tower that resides upon the fourth, treacherous island... the doors remained bound in seal. Such is the only location with a barrier enclosed in such powerful witchcraft..."  
  
_...So it's locked,_ Nagito discerned. "You mean Nezumi Castle?"  
  
_"Nezumi Castle..."_ Gundham over-pronounced ominously. "Indeed..."  
  
"...Right." Nagito nodded. "Should we meet up there tonight and see if we can get inside?" He smiled politely, his head tilting to the side gingerly. "Ah, you know. So we don't get caught during the day. Not sure how much it would be appreciated if we broke down a door right in front of our teacher, right? That is... if you'd even let me come along."  
  
Gundham's eyes drew closed regrettably. "I must utilize your feeble power of foresight."  
  
"Oh... you mean - you need my help dodging the cameras, right?" His investigations served another aid!  
  
Gundham gave a grave nod. "Hmph. Or I suppose the Four Dark Devas of Destruction could suffice for similar purpose..."  
  
Oh! Nagito shook his head quickly. "No! Don't worry, I'll do it... this is my investigation, after all." _...He's caught up in it, huh._ If he planned to go alone, then he certainly was. "And - I mean, I get if my soul isn't worth enough to ask for your help anymore... but I guess if we both intend to go, we may as well do it together! Haha..."  
  
"..." Gundham gave yet another silent nod. "...Hrm. Very well." And unceremoniously, he broke his stride and stalked off in the opposite direction.  
  
_So dramatic with his exits..._ Nagito guessed that was the end of the conversation.  
He hadn't a watch on his wrist, so he consulted the fall of the sun. _Nightfall, huh._ He'd have to bide his time.  
There was more work to do tonight.


	8. What's Your Ask?

They navigated in near silence, Nagito was too focused on the task at hand for extraneous comments.

Gundham seemed thankful for that silence, casting his differently-shaded eyes in semi-circles around their surroundings, hoping to catch a glimpse of the lifeless stare of the cameras watching them.

Ahead, Gundham's 'Four Dark Devas of Destruction' trekked, sniffing around and poking their heads up in a meager search for the same thing.

"Wow," Nagito had praised at the time, "what a beautiful display of talent! Fitting, for the Ultimate Breeder! Heh, heh."  
He received a dismissive nod instead. Gundham didn't soak up those compliments as he did the others.

With the Lucky Student's help, their walk was relatively risk-free. It simply took precision and a painful lack of short-cuts.

Once arrived, one of the Devas, Maga-Z, Nagito heard Gundham call it, scampered forward, clamoring up one of the nearly structures and compressing its weight against the side of Nezumi castle's surveillance cameras.

Eventually the tired mechanical eyes could view no more than the adjacent foliage, leaving the rebellious duo unwatched and laced with clarity.

"Well trained! Amazing!" Nagito clapped politely for the performance of Maga-Z, casting a familiar smile to his partner-in-crime. "It only makes sense that _an Ultimate_ would be capable of providing such an incredible performance!"

Gundham only sighed. "The door is sealed."

"Sealed..." Nagito nodded, dropping the thought of expressing Gundham's talent in words and allowing those contained comments to clamor restlessly around inside his skull instead. He drew nearer, extending a hand to rattle the door handle with a minimal, experimental effort.

Certainly enough, the door hardly jostled. The lack of movements signified it was frozen - or perhaps even _welded_ shut. The lucky student chewed his lip briefly, pulling his hand away as he drifted back. "Ah, jeez. Locked up tight, huh. Any other way in?"

"The windows would appear in a similar predicament..." Gundham grumbled, nodding up at the lonesome panes that loomed above them like tiny abysses. "Crimson Steel Elephant _Maga-Z_ and Mirage Golden Hawk _Jum-P_ could not draw open a portal within. This mystic castle must be bewitched by a fearsome curse... however, I can sense a grand importance within... perhaps it is where 'he' stores his energy throughout this area! Kehehe… I do hope that 'he' hides within - for only then can we partake in our fated legendary battle!"

Nagito blinked. "Oh! Who?" He asked pleasantly, eager to hear a little more about Gundham's eccentricities. The Breeder was stranger than Nagito himself could wrap his head around. While the sensation had been polarizing at first, he found himself wishing more and more to understand his lexicon.

"..." Gundham cast a wary gaze over to the other, before a boasting smile of superiority twisted onto his lips. "Kehehe…! Think not of it, for a simpleton mind such as your own would succumb to madness before understanding!"

_...Yeah, figures._ Komaeda gave an understanding nod, huffing out a 'hm.' Well, he was far from giving up. "Ah... how's this, maybe a good explosive could do the trick," Nagito sighed wistfully, rapping his knuckles on the door experimentally. He listened as the hollow sound he'd produced echoed from within the foreboding establishment. "Seems like it's pretty empty in there... I'm sure I could pull something together and get this door open wide! Haha!" He smiled at his own potential for usefulness. "Unfortunately... it'd be a bit telling, huh? 'Ya know, if we blew a hole in the thing? It'd be pretty loud..."

Gundham shook his head disapprovingly. "Unwise. Such extremities could be dealt by my hand with ease."

...Komaeda waited for an explanation of why he _didn't_ just use his powerful hands to bust the door open, but none came. _Right._ He turned back to the door. "Yeah... that's true. Maybe it's a little to early for that. Still, though... it's effective."

No response from the pondering Gundham.

Komaeda laughed awkwardly to lighten the mood. "Well... there aren't any side entrances, are there?"

"Hmph - I've checked... the evil forth eye sensed no evident entrances..." Gundham explained.

The Lucky Student nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets and peering over at the castle again. "I mean... I've already given my idea of a solution. We _could_ try and make a pulley system and get ourselves up to the roof, or something, though... depends on how hard you want to check. My guess, though, is that they don't really want us inside. For the doors to be locked _that_ tight..."

"-'Twould be intentional," Gundham concluded Nagito's thought. "Intentional cowardice to mask the cursed interior of the haunted castle."

_Oh... so it's haunted now?_ Nagito couldn't help but to laugh a little bit, the sound low and carefree. Sounded like he was enjoying himself and the talk. "Alright. How's this? I can start... you know... _considering_ some resources to bust this door open. I can look for a crowbar, or something..." And explosives, but he decided to keep quieter about his secondary intentions. "And in the meantime, we could probably nose around in the library, too. I only spent _three and a half_ hours checking it yesterday... didn't read every book yet, unfortunately. I could hole myself up in there and read them all!"

Gundham gave him a puzzled look. "Would the sought of hidden passageways not prove more effective? I find novels are rather a waste of time... that whole expanse would drive one mad should they commit themselves to heavily to meaningless yearning for hidden code. 'Twould merely be a waste of time."

"I mean..." _We can't know that until we try..._ But somehow it felt like Gundham knew that already. Maybe he did.

Maybe he was just trying to warn _Nagito_ not to waste his time and emotions. _Huh--? Could it be?_

"Ah, alright. So tonight's a bit of a bust, huh...?" Nagito sighed.

"I would not say so... to consider efforts, no matter their seeming insignificance, as without meaning would be foolish in the face of Causality. Have we not discerned the sacred path free of sinning eyes? Have we not considered the ancient magic that can force submission from the door? Or exorcised the godly faces of misery from viewing our efforts here?"

Ah, kind of. Moving some cameras around and taking a long, meandering path around the island didn't seem like much of an accomplishment to Nagito, but he'd always considered himself a bit of a pessimist. "Ah, that's true, we have. Alright... I guess we can think about this some more tomorrow. We should probably be rested for tomorrow." _Stupid castle's a dead end until we can get it open..._ How would he take explosives to it without making a scene? _Jeez!_ People were so sensitive about things blowing up, it was almost a bit annoying sometimes.

That diseased disconnect inside his head that prohibited him from common mannerisms and emotional connection masked yet another nod from common sense.

Nagito watched Gundham sigh, giving a soft huff as he pivoted dramatically around. "Hmph. I suppose." But he did not walk off, to the lucky student's surprise.

Nagito peeked over, squinting uncertainly at his face. "Huh? What is it?" He questioned, inclining his head upward. "Is there a problem? Did you think of something?"

"...Why is it that you fixate so heavily upon my _'Ultimate Talent?'_ Does that concept not become tiresome to you?"

Nagito's eyes widened, his head shaking quickly. "Oh! Not at all! Haha! I may as well be the _Ultimate Ultimate Fanatic!_ I mean, that might sound a little uh... strange," he realized late, censoring himself, "but I really do have a special interest in _talent,_ and the hope that you all bring to all the people without it! All the Ultimates are so wonderful - so _intriguing_ in their own way! The way you're able to train your hamsters are so impressive. And me? Ah, well, I'm just garbage next to all of you... I'm just an _Ultimate Lucky Student_ \- no real talent at all. I mean, considering you even believe in luck. Heh, heh, heh!" He smiled cheekily. "Sorry... went on a tangent there. I just think you ultimates are incredible! That's all... forgive me for praising you! I can't help it! I'm sure my voice becomes annoying after a while..."

Gundham paused, before his eyes closed. "Hmph. You worship such concepts as other fiends worship their Gods...?"

"Yeah, I think so," Nagito hummed. "It's the least I can do, barely qualifying among you as things are! Ah, sorry." Sorry? What was he sorry for? Whatever he could be. "For pestering you with my admiration!"

"..." Gundham turned slightly back, squinting. "You worship me only for a mere _title_ that another one of you _mortal fiends_ have bestowed me?"

"...Uhh..." Nagito laughed awkwardly, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment. _Oh-! Uh..._ "I mean, more that I admire and wish to serve that talent of yours!" Shoot, he was slipping into a deeper, 'less _normal'_ version of himself.

"...Hmph." Gundham's eyes closed. "Listen well... You are wise to worship me, however, I grow tired of your meaningless banter. Yes, I have been given the title, _'Ultimate,_ ' but perhaps you should remain aware that that _feeble_ title is merely an encompassment of humanity's limited knowledge of my power. My power comes not from that title at all... but from my dark, overwhelming power instead. Had I not been dubbed 'Ultimate Breeder,' I would remain the shapeless insanity that I am upon this night. Perhaps mind that when you worship, else you shall befall to unwise and pitiful habits... there is no meaning in names, 'lest you practice Kotodama." Gundham eased into a pose, his eyes widening dramatically - seemingly for a showy, ominous aesthetic. "If you worship me, mind that you worship the walking cataclysm, history's _greatest_ monster: Gundham Tanaka! My limited form is 'Ultimate Breeder,' a simpleton term dubbed by those who could not fathom the darkness within my soul. Why, this world could be destroyed, you know! Surely, if I were to snap my fingers, you could all _fall to ash._ Perhaps mind that, 'stead of your compliments to meaningless words. 'Tis the man that makes the title, not the other way around... does your primitive mind comprehend that?"

...

Nagito nodded quickly. "Ah, see... I told you I was - ah... just a subservient worm... a bug! You know... human garbage. Please, don't worry about all the meaningless things I say!"

"-Enough," Gundham urged, perhaps softer than Nagito had expected. "Have you not heard my words at all?"

"...I mean, you don't want me to worship you for your Ultimate, right?"

"Yes. 'Twere my words of warning."

"...And that if I worship you, I should do it because you're 'Gundham Tanaka!' And you're all powerful, and self-made, and all that stuff... isn't that right?"

"Mm. Correct once again. Perhaps you are not so foolish as you appear."

"..." Nagito nodded slowly, rubbing his elbow with a pale, spindly hand. "Ah... alright. Well, uh... I didn't mean to offend you, heh, heh." It was only a matter of time. _Stupid, useless Nagito..._

Gundham nodded, huffing softly. "Tch... 'twas not offended. Merely supposed that it would do you well to be adequately informed..." His gaze drew into a squint. "-And yet, you deprecate?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah... I guess I just want to address the elephant in the room. That I'm nothing more than boring, stupid trash. I'm sure you get that, right?" Perhaps stated so matter-of-factly to someone like Gundham, he wouldn't get an immediate faux-concerned assurance. 'Oh, no you're not!' He hardly got those, and when they did, it came from an ingenuine place. He could tell. The human need to pity people who hate themselves.

He never knew how to feel. He used to enjoy hearing the praise, even if it was nothing more than meaningless noise. Now, though... he just wanted someone to be genuine with him. _Wait..._ maybe he didn't?

What did he hope for?

What did he want to hear?

Ah, he didn't know anymore.

"..." A calculating expression took over Gundham's face, a frown twisting his lips into a downward formation. "Hm..." He glanced off, seemingly tempted to take the easy way out and leave. Gundham took a step, but slowed, seemingly considering the worth and genuine undertones of the statement.

Perhaps considering whether or not Nagito was needlessly seeking pity, or if...?

_Why would he hesitate at all...?_ Nagito held his breath.

"-I correct your practice to prohibit this tiresome drawl... You are not wrong to worship power. However, to demean yourself for an impossibility is abhorrently half-witted of you. You shan't survive the coming winter with such disbelief in your spirit. 'Tis a plague... you feed it. You humans only see the world through eyes of glass... but I am different-! And with the evil forth eye, I can assure your downfall down such a path of misery." A bandaged hand extended over his face, Gundham's piercing eyes glaring at Nagito through his fingers. "...Though you needn't take my word, I have no will to fore my values upon you. Perhaps a fiend such as yourself holds no understanding for my conveyance..."

"...Ah, no, I get it," Nagito assured, his arms crossing. "I get what you've been saying this whole time... guess I'm just surprised you brought it up! Heh, heh." He reached out a hand, feeling a sudden yearning to pat Gundham's shoulder in order to establish a friendly medium between them.

Gundham abruptly drew away. "Draw no closer," he warned. "I am surrounded by a magical barrier generated of my own will."

"..." Nagito's hand lingered in the air, before a hesitant, melancholy smile stretched across his face. "Ah. Haha... I get it. You can always say you don't really want to be touched, you know. I don't mind." He whistled softly, making a subtle show of slipping his hand back into his pocket. "There 'ya go. How's that?"

Gundham nodded approvingly. "Come now. The night is daunting and terror-filled... as the holder of your soul, I demand that you remain near to me..." He smiled semi-pridefully, taking a brief moment to ensure that Nagito didn't need any more assurance or loose ends tied.

Deciding the action was unnecessary, he huffed out a soft laugh before stalking into the night.

This time Komaeda remained close.

He couldn't help but to chew his lip as he walked along, lost in thought.

... _Ah. What an interesting Ultimate you are._


	9. Poison; Deadly Drug

The food supplied itself, but Nagito had always been a bit of a 'picky' eater.  
Picky, sure, but perhaps the label was simply an excuse _not_ to eat. Nagito did not like to eat.  
...But he supposed he was obligated every time it was Teruteru who provided for them. He didn't have the right to turn down such a splendid gift. An ultimate's creation was a gift to the world, of course. What right did he, pathetic, meaningless garbage, have to turn up anything he was offered?  
None at all.  
Komaeda tried to tackle a drumstick, already feeling the faint bit of peckishness sliding down his throat and out of his system entirely.  
Carrying his plate toward the assortment of tables, Nagito's pale gaze found Gundham easily.  
_-Oh, hey! That's right... we never made plans, did we?_  
Nagito hesitated, chewing the food in his mouth with a second-long restrain. Ah... should he even go over there at all?  
He'd just be a pest.  
…  
He felt a draw, though. _I mean... it's worth going over there..._ they had to address their next course of action... right? Yeah... that was it. He was _obligated_ to go over there and talk to them.  
Komaeda took up his plate, quickly placing the drumstick down and wiping the grease off on his pants. _Hopefully he didn't see that...  
  
_Gundham glanced up questioningly as the lucky student approached, having nudged all the meat on his platter to a desolate corner. Each of his Dark Devas sniffed around his plate, their heads poking up as the lucky student approached.  
  
"Ah... hey there, heh." Nagito waved loosely. "Could we talk? You know... about our next move."  
  
"..." Gundham shot a cautious glare at one of the cameras. "Would elsewhere not prove more effective?"  
  
Nagito paused, blinking a few time. "Ah, shucks..." _That's... completely true._ He laughed it off with a softly mustered chuckle. "Ah, well... that's right. Just thought maybe we could discuss a location, right? Room's pretty loud, no one'll notice."  
  
"..." The breeder seemed lightly distrustful, but gave a soft sigh. "Do not be so foolish as to touch me," he warned. "That... would result in your untimely demise. You would crumble to ash. With caution, sit down."  
  
Nagito obeyed, finding a smile as he produced a fork for his meal. "Yep! Thanks..."  
  
"..." Gundham rifled through his pockets, producing a small package of sunflower seeds and distributing them carefully between his hamsters. "Hmph. That bear... did you ever find it?"  
  
Nagito looked up, having just shoved a piece of chicken into his mouth. His eyes suddenly probed at Gundham's seemingly vegetarian agenda. _Ah, jeez..._ and here was garbage, eating some meat right in front of him.  
He swallowed quickly, choking up a light laugh. "Ah... wasn't on any of the islands we were searching yesterday... I think wherever it is, it won't be a concern to anyone... you know, since no one's been able to find it. Probably too broken to mess around with anyone, or even to talk about what we wanted to hear. You know?"  
  
"...Hmph." The breeder nodded, carefully skewering a few items on his plate with his fork. He squinted down at the meal, as if he was suspicious of it, or something, before finishing the action. "I see. Perhaps the All-Seeing eye would be knowing of its whereabouts..."  
  
The lucky student nodded, slipping into a silence for a moment. "So no one can touch you?" He was curious. "But the animals are okay. Right?"  
  
"Demonbeasts surpass the power of humans - especially the Devas. They are to whom you refer, aren't they?"  
  
Nagito nodded. "I mean, I meant animals in general. You don't really seem to have that much of an issue with petting them, or anything. But if a human touches you, they'll die... do you just like to obliterate people?" He realized the comment could be insensitive, and almost opened his mouth to correct himself. And yet... he didn't. He'd only deprecate and apologize if he was cornered on the comment.  
  
"Hm - no. This is no matter of my own will. The Devas are brimming with overwhelming power. A lowly human like you..." His eyes scanned the other quickly: _up-down._ "Not so," he finished.  
  
"Huh... so it's not your choice?" This lore was getting more and more interesting! Nagito shifted in his seat, leaning a hand on his elbow as he sat at attention. "What's that mean?"  
  
"The blood that courses through this body of mine bears a fearsome curse," Gundham interluded, voice slowing to a dramatic, meaningful cadence. A melodramatic rendition of some far-off, ancient and daunting tale. Something of that nature. He took a moment to make sure Nagito was listening. "Ever since I was a child, this vessel has been exposed _time_ and _time again_ to poison-! So much so that the very life-force within became tainted with that same murderous aura... and thus, if a simple human such as yourself were to ever touch me, that _poison_ flowing through my veins would surely cause you decompose and _wither away..._ "

_Wow!_ Wither away? That was amazing! If only it were true... Nagito knew better, but pretended to buy into the act with an eager nod. "...Hey, wait a minute." A teasing smile crept onto his face. "Does that mean you've been protecting me? You know... making sure I don't die, or combust, or anything?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself," Gundham scolded. "Even for a foolish, bothersome human, I have no need to yearn for a meaningless death. If you were to wither to ash, then I could not implore your uses, could I?"

"...Eh, probably not. I'm even _more_ useless garbage if I'm just a bunch of sand on the carpet! Heh, heh."

"..." Gundham paused, squinting, almost with annoyance, but alluding to something else, too. He sighed lightly, crossing a leg over his knee as he returned to his plate. Then, realizing there was more to his story, he turned back. "Do not be so foolish to assume this is a matter of gains and losses! This is no matter of choice! I did not become this way out of my own desire. I have to accept this fate even if it is not my will... the exposure was too great at too young an age."

"...Poisoning _yourself?_ " Nagito rested his chin atop both his cupped hands, like a toddler eager to hear more of their bedtime story. Was this a metaphor for something? "What kind of poison? Cyanide? Belladonna?"

"Not I, myself... though I made an allowance for destiny," Gundham didn't-quite-clarify.

"Not your choice?" Nagito prompted.

"You wouldn't understand the amount of pain I had to endure," Gundham blew off. "Sacrifices must be made for a mother's serenity..."

"...Your mom did it?" Oh, _this_ was getting good. Nagito pulled his hands back, rubbing them together eagerly. _'Come on, keep going.'_

"That woman would cry if I didn't finish my plate. What choice did I have but to suffer in silence?" Gundham lamented lightly, his head tilting up wistfully, as if collecting an important memory from the air.

"...Right." Nagito found himself frowning slightly. Oh... he'd hoped he was digging up some vulnerable, critical story that helped formulate Gundham's talent and personality, not just some poor cooking on his mom's part...

Ah, well. Maybe next time he could sink his claws in more effectively. _And do what?_ He realized the phrase seemed harmful and offensive. 'Sink his claws in.' Like a feral animal clinging to prey. _Gundham's not my prey!_ He just wanted to guide the ultimates into a realm of their full potential.

The more he spoke to Gundham, the more Nagito wanted to incorporate him into some _special_ part of his plan. His ideas and his way of life were so... peculiar? Out of the ordinary? Special, in some strange, twisted way. He was being drawn in and pushed out all at the same time. Nagito wanted to obsess in simple subservience like always, but it felt harder with him. _Must mean he has a really special place among all this._ Perhaps he was letting his biases get away from him, but it didn't feel like it. It had been easy to blow him off as an eccentric weirdo when they'd first met, but that didn't stand anymore. _There's something... deep about him._ He was fun to think about and observe. He wanted to praise his skills as the Ultimate Breeder - it made him wonder if it was wrong to view him that way. No one had ever scolded him for it with such cutting intention before. _I can't be wrong._ He just didn't understand. That must have been it.

But just in case, he'd tried approaching through two lenses at once.

Gundham - he was the Ultimate Breeder, beautiful beacon of hope brimming with potential, and he was...? Something else. Some kind of peculiar, unseen brilliance wrapped up in a strange, off-putting package. Well, off-putting to people who weren't like Nagito, hungering to know more. _Tell me about you._

And once he'd shifted his tactic, he felt comfortable with his hidden agendas again. Realizing and dissecting Gundham from countless angles. Now he could understand him as an Ultimate and - _I don't know..._ something else? He'd say a person, but it didn't exactly click.

_...As he wants me to understand him?_ But there was something deeper than that, too. Gundham wanted to be seen as something he wasn't.

Nagito found himself digging for the truth, for his real wordy meanings and his real complexities. He wanted to understand him. The more they spoke, the more it seemed within his reach, and out of it all at once. A tantalizing forbidden fruit, tempting him nearer. _'Come here, if you can fathom the madness.'_

Nagito believed that he could.

"Well, alright. I won't touch you, then," he chuckled softly, leaning forward again. "Has _anyone_ ever touched you? Over the course of your life, I mean. Has anyone ever touched you and died?"

"No," Gundham said briefly.

"No one?"

"No."

Hm... was that even possible? "Not, like, a doctor? Haven't you ever twisted your ankle or anything?"

"The school nurse was in the same tribe as me. She allowed me to remain uninvolved." Gundham boasted, seemingly eager to prove his point. "Not a soul has dared to draw near... the other children heeded me, as I did them. The wisest among them would know well to steer clear."

"...Ah, alright." Nagito couldn't exactly understand the comment about the nurse, but it all boiled down to one thing: _has... Gundham even touched someone since he was a kid?_ And if he had, had he forgotten? Denied it? He was a liar in terms of his persona, but Nagito didn't take him for someone to tell a direct lie. _Amazing..._ he'd never met anyone like this before!

_He's fun to talk to,_ Nagito realized. "...Hey. Is there _anyone_ who can touch you? I mean, aside from your mom, I'm guessing, and the animals."

"Demon-beasts," Gundham corrected, quirking a brow. The correction was not forceful, appearing more tandem to curiosity.

Nagito chuckled. "Ah, sorry. Demon-beasts."

A slight smile summoned itself onto Tanaka's face. "Hmph. You merely ask because you yearn for it, power-seeker."

_-Huh?_ Nagito sat up abruptly. He fumbled to deny it, realizing it was true. He was clever. Right? Maybe Gundham had just made a logical guess, but his tone of voice implied something more. _Hey... he's playing a game with me...!_ Gundham wasn't as clueless to Nagito's intentions as he seemed, was he? While he probably didn't grasp the depth or origin of Nagito's strange twisting and untwisting obsession, he could sense what Nagito was attempting to do. He could sense his interest...

_Maybe I'm just jumping to conclusions._ Why had a realization like that clicked into place with one interestingly-worded sentence? Well, there was nothing to do now but play along. Sure, they could play the persona game together, as they had been all along. This time it wasn't just Nagito buying into it, it was an exchange. "Ah, well... perhaps I do. I may be nothing more than useless garbage, but I don't know... thought that since I have some poison in me, too, maybe I would manage not to die. Besides, if my good-for-nothing talent has any purpose at all... maybe I could come out without much of a scratch."

Gundham's eyes lit up slightly, exhaling a boasting laugh. "Kehehe! What a clever bauble you are! And yet, so dauntingly far from the miserable truth of my malevolence! The only one who can touch me is they who possesses power that matches my own - clearly an impossibility! There is no way such a being exists... you should quell your trivial ambitions. For your sake."

"Mm... are you sure? Haha..." Nagito raised his hands in ready submission, but didn't close his eyes. He was still playing the game. "Well, then… you're the most powerful being in the world?"  
  
"Yes," Gundham boasted with ease, loosening the scarf around his neck. "The Gods themselves flee from me-!"  
  
"So, what's your next move, then...? Turning the whole world into the Tanaka Empire's thralls?" Sounded like something he would like.  
  
Gundham glanced to the window, his multi-colored eyes narrowing. "This unassuming land shall become the battlefield of this world's future..."  
  
Nagito smiled, his head tilting, about to continue, but only then did he realize the slightest disturbance in Gundham's face. _Huh...?_ Had he missed something? He thought they were playing a game...  
He sat back slowly, studying each movement of his expression. _Ah, stupid Nagito!_ He always had so much trouble discerning how people felt. Why were humans so difficult?  
It was an illness.  
…  
_He_ was an illness. His inability to read humanity, not humanity itself, was the disease. _Right?_ Yeah, that's right.  
"Hey... you seem a bit - you know... lonely." That's what Gundham was. Nagito had realized it moments before he'd said it.  
Gundham looked lonely.  
  
The breeder glanced back, an invisible brow crinkling in frustration. He then glared at the other sharply. "Tch… you fiend." He appeared ruffled by the comment, but Komaeda felt no need to retract it this time. "You haven't a clue of the complexities of the multiverse..." A scolding, defensive rebuttal.  
  
_You... you want a friend...!_ Nagito recognized that loneliness. That strange, dwindling desire. _...You want someone who listens to you, just like I do...!_ Realizing a connection between himself and an ultimate was unusually startling.  
He shook his head quickly. "Ah, right." He wanted to comment on it. He had to hold himself back from it. But why?  
Oh, well. _Hey, what the hell._ Nagito opened his mouth, and hesitated.  
Did he deserve to ask? To ask to be friends with an ultimate?  
The hesitation stalled him too many seconds, Gundham had already stood up.  
  
"Our paths will cross again. However, pandemonium knows no master. Remember well what you have learned today..." Ominously, Gundham backed away from the table and strode for the door.  
  
"..." _Hey, wait a second..._ Gundham had abruptly left their conversation again-!  
Nagito sat up, finding himself exhaling a soft, delighted laugh. Ah, that was an interesting talk! For a moment, Nagito had almost forgot he was speaking to a superior with whom he was scheduling. For a moment it felt like speaking for his own pleasure.  
He enjoyed talking to Gundham, he decided.  
… _Hey, wait a second... we didn't even schedule our next move!_ Ah, stupid Nagito! He'd gotten so distracted talking to Gundham that he'd forgotten to get his schedule together...  
With a soft laugh, Nagito glanced down to his plate, choosing to abandon it on the table and dust himself off from his standing position. He sighed aloud.  
  
Right. Time to focus on what was important.  
_Let's get back to the big picture._


	10. Dynamic Shift

Having missed his opportunity that morning, Nagito found a strange hesitance to approach the other.  
Sure, they needed to consult one another on their schedule, but Nagito almost felt empty-handed.  
When he hadn't been around Gundham yesterday, the Lucky Student had spent an unordinary amount of time scouring the library. The three and a half hours doted before paled in comparison to the skimming of pages he went through that day.  
Once his eyes had grown weary from fine text and squinting through the dim lighting, he wandered directionlessly outside and cast his wary hellos to the other students.  
His hands remained shoved into his pockets, a nonchalance coating him in indifferent, scheming smiles.  
  
And finally he came across the ranch, slowing idly to a stop.  
Gundham was waiting there. Waiting for no one, evidently, as he hardly even acknowledged that Nagito had passed at all. He was too distracted with the quietly bobbling chicken making weary circles around the straw-littered ground.  
  
_Aww._ Made sense for the Ultimate Breeder to gravitate towards the animals. Nagito laughed to himself, raising a hand and waving it idly at the other. "-Hey! Haha! Gundham!" He managed clarity with ease despite his earlier feelings of conflict.  
  
Gundham's head rose, eyes peering over the fence with an uncertain, cool aura. No displeasure twisted onto his face as he noticed Komaeda, as it so often did when mortals tried to approach him. "Hmph," he greeted offhandedly, before returning his gaze back down.

Komaeda settled at the fence, leaning daintily over the ledge and raising his head to steal a peek at whatever the Breeder was busying himself with. The lucky student reached up a spindly hand, running it idly through his copious locks of hair as he exhaled a thoughtful breath. "Hey-"

"...Don't get any closer," Gundham warned, ushering Nagito into a hasty silence, "I already know what you're thinking."

"Huh? You do?" Nagito laughed offhandedly. "...Well, alright, I'm staying here."

"...Why is it that you seek me here? Do you wish to watch the secrets of the Tanaka Empire unfolding-?"

"Huh?" Nagito rested his head atop his elbow, the other arm dangling wistfully down as he thought briefly against the fence. "I mean... I don't mind. Just a humble husk of talentless existence... least I could do is admire your work, right?"

"..." Gundham seemed displeased again. Flattered, sure, but displeased. "Now then, summon your familiar!"  
  
Nagito's head tilted, another giggle managing to slip out of him. "F-Familiar? I can't do anything like that! I don't have any useful skill at all!"  
  
A frown. "You've come challenging me so many times... I'd thought you'd finally obtained at least one familiar. Tch. You border nothing more than a tireless drone. Just as I thought - you're only a mere human, and an interesting one at that."

_Huh? Interesting?_ Nagito sat up slightly. _Interesting! He really thinks scum like me is interesting?_  
"Well," he insisted. "You _did_ make me your thrall, right...? Least I could do is follow you around and admire your work!" He smiled, the expression flinching in the last moment as he realized that was probably the last thing someone like Gundham would want to hear.  
Ah, well. Stupid Nagito - he'd said it anyway. Now he could wait and analyze the response it got him.

"...Hmph." Gundham studied the chicken bobbing its head at his feet, hesitantly distributing it a handful of seed.

He hadn't responded.

"...Uhh... making friends with that chicken?" Nagito tried to break the silence, suddenly ashamed of his own existence.

"'Tis a phoenix," Gundham grumbled, finally turning towards Komaeda.

Nagito sat pretty, his expression brightening as Gundham turned to him. "...Am I bothering you?" He chimed the question.

"..." Gundham seemed ready to answer the question - perhaps with a 'yes,' Nagito could never be sure - but instead, he asked. "Why is it that you consider yourself rudimentary trash? Was my likening of you to a _worm_ so drastically awakening to you that you centered your core around it? Do you wish to win my favor by bending to my words?"

"...!" Nagito sat up. _He's.. asking about_ me?! Nagito cleared his throat, scratching the back of his neck uncertainly. "Ah, well-! I wish I could tell you that I'm just some weak-willed scum that decided to suck up to you by saying he's awful all the time... but that's not it. I was _born_ a waste of space."

He paused, studying Gundham's expression, which continued to listen.

Nagito cleared his throat again, waving a hand idly through the air to transition his story along. "Well, I think I'd better start like this. There are _two_ kinds of people in this world: those born worthy, and everybody else. Right?" He paused, waiting to see if Gundham was following along.  
  
The breeder showed a clear uncertainly, but managed an uncertain nod.  
  
"And no matter how hard a lowly human tries... they'll never be the same as someone who was _born_ worthy."  
  
"..." Gundham paused, giving a soft, disinterested huff and returning to his tending to the chicken.  
  
"They say that 'effort breeds success,' but-" Nagito blinked suddenly, peering over the edge of the fence to Gundham's disinterest. "Hey, are you listening to me?"  
  
"No," he dismissed softly.  
  
"...Huh? Am I really _that_ boring...?" Nagito glanced down at a hand, admiring the intricacy of its uselessness.  
  
"Your philosophy is rather predictable," Gundham decreed. "Let me ask... you intended to say that those _'worthy'_ are born with talent - and those without are those who cannot grow in power. And ultimately, those in power reside above those without."  
  
"..." Nagito blinked a few times, chuckling awkwardly as he scratched the back of his neck. "...Ah, well - yeah. That's it. Heh, heh, heh, heh...!"  
  
"And you regard yourself as such an underling due to the uncertain regard of your _assigned special ability._ Is that not correct?"  
  
"Ah, well... yep," Nagito rested his crossed arms along the top of the fence, resting his head down. "...Sorry. I'm just blabbing away! If I talk too much, you're always free to tell me to 'shoo!' You're just an interesting Ultimate, that's all. I mean-" Shoot, that's right. Gundham didn't like being likened down to a 'mere ultimate' - like it was below him somehow. "I meant... well. You're fun to talk to! Heh, heh. But please, don't feel obligated to talk to garbage like me."  
  
Gundham dusted off his coat idly. "Hrm… I've told you already - skill alone does not define a soul. 'Tis a mere aspect. A fruitful one, but if a low-down scoundrel like you were to hinge your life upon such a feeble concept, you would live not a life at all! You're rather miserable."  
  
"..." Nagito laughed emptily. "Yep. That's about right." That was more of a confession than his usual quips.  
  
"Hmph. I've often mistaken you for a Kotodama user... however, you cannot grasp that your _words_ hold power against you?"  
  
"Huh? What exactly do you mean?" Nagito was curious now.  
  
"If you call yourself 'trash,' then you shall become nothing further... you hinder your own destiny with such frivolous insistences. You shall go nowhere in such a state."  
  
_...Huh. He's giving me life advice,_ Nagito realized suddenly. _He's been telling me to stop obsessing over the Ultimates… he's been telling me to see him as more than just a talent. He's telling me to - stop calling myself garbage..._ He'd been so certain Gundham didn't care for him at all. Was that... not true? Or was he just calling it like he saw it? _Probably the latter._ The least garbage could do was listen and obey, right? At least, he could do so in a way that pleased Gundham and prompted him to let Nagito hang around.  
Some spiteful part of himself wanted to deviate away from his requests, just to test his reaction.  
Some self-resenting part of himself wanted to stay true, just to drive Gundham away and result in his own punishment.  
But he'd never really gotten toleration like this before - not from someone this admirable, anyway. He... didn't want to ruin this if he _really_ had the chance to make something like a friend. When first meeting Gundham, it was easy to blow him off as a wacko, or maybe some kind of idiot, too.  
_He's not an idiot._ He was proving to be kind of wise, despite his distance.  
"...Well, I mean. No point in trying if I was born into a permanent state of worthlessness." He couldn't help but point out what felt obvious.  
  
"Hmph. You claim your talent holds worthlessness, and yet, you so constantly cite and rely upon it?" Gundham countered. "I've seen you stake our investigations on it. Where does your belief lie? Is it of no influence to your life after all?"  
  
"No... that's not it," Nagito insisted quickly. "My life... well. It's been through a lot of my luck cycles. Here, remember earlier when I gave you that example about finding a lost pet?"  
  
"Yes, I recall."  
  
"Yeah... well. It's complicated, I think. You ask why I worship talent... well. _Talent_ brings about hope! Right? I just want to believe in hope! I'm sure you could understand... do you know what _hope_ represents?"  
  
"...The will to carry on?" Gundham guessed, seeming intrigued by the sudden puzzle. "The belief in the core of the world that fate will favor you, and you will be guided to a path that brings about the conclusion of your grief."  
  
_...Oh...!_ Nagito kind of liked that answer. It was intimate and complicated... he futzed with the collar of his shirt.  
"Well, kind of. In simple terms, though, _hope_ is an absolute good! And _you guys_ have the potential to embody it! Do you understand? _Hope_ is a positive force, and everything created by it is an absolute good! And that's where I come in... the entire reason I'm even _alive_ is because of hope. But... someone with such a useless, miserable talent -- someone who was hardly allowed into Hope's Peak at all... there's no way I could bring about something like that." It was time to open the Pandora's Box of his philosophy. "...So that's why I'd like to help you all cultivate that hope... to _reach_ that potential. I'm just your instrument - to encourage you all to harness and express that hope with all your might! I just want to be hope's stepping stone - no matter what it takes! Ha, ha, ha... you all have the power to create that absolute good! That's why I can't help but to admire you all. That's why I can't help to admire your _talents..._ that's why I can't wait to be of service! Does that make sense?"  
  
"...In a convoluted manner, yes. I suppose I understand your belief." Gundham stated.  
  
"So you understand?" He climbed atop the fence, perching excitedly on the top rung. "You believe in the hope that rests within you all?"  
  
"...No," he said. "I merely understand your thinking... it is linear, and yet, it roots itself in your self-vendetta. You worship an imperfect reality that does not adequately align with the truths of this multiverse."  
  
Well, Gundham wasn't the first person to think that. "Ah, alright." Gundham was the first person who _listened,_ though, and hadn't completely blown him off. "So you think I'm wrong?" He felt brave asking.  
  
"It is not my place. I cannot conduct what it is you choose to believe and what you do not, so long as you keep my power in mind," Gundham said, drawing one eye closed and leering from the other. "And what of your talent? You've yet to answer that."  
  
"Haha. Jeez... well. I have to admit, I think it's awfully admirable of you to listen to a philosophy that you yourself can't really agree with. You are definitely someone who embodies hope!" Nagito leaned forward into his knees, snaking a hand up the side of his face. "So, let's talk about the moment I came into this world!"  
  
Gundham seemed uncertain how to interpret the compliment, fiddling professionally with his scarf. Intrigued, yet hesitant to allow himself to be. "Your conception?"  
  
"Kind of. Before I get into it, can I ask you something?" Nagito sat up again, wobbling at a slight unbalance on top of the fence. "-Ah, I mean... will you entertain me?"  
  
"...I shall," Gundham allowed, smiling very faintly at the show of their power balance. "Continue."  
  
"Mmhm," he hummed, "well, what do you think _good luck_ is?"  
  
"A falsehood," Gundham said flatly. "A misinterpretation. Destiny guides the soul, there is no controlling it yourself." He paused. "Though I suppose if one spent their entire life riddled with misfortunes and fortunes, as you have previously instated, that would imply that Causality itself has taken to their fiddling. In such a case, what a lowly human would riddle ' _good luck,_ ' someone of a superior insight would refer to as... _an enchantment._ Perhaps a blessing? Perhaps a _curse?_ One that allows the vessel it occupies to bend and shape the outcomes of Causality drastically. It is no coincidence - merely fate's special interest."  
  
_...Huh?_ Nagito blinked a few times. "You think I'm cursed? Is that it? You're cursed too, right? Or - sorry, poisoned?"  
  
"Not the same, but yes. I imply perhaps you are cursed."  
  
"..." Nagito hadn't been looking for that answer. He forced out a soft, starved breath. "Well," he realized. "...Kind of. But it'd have to be more of a _blessing_ than a curse! Good luck _always_ blossoms from bad luck. That's just how luck cycles! What I wanted you to say... was that _good luck_ is _absolute power._ You know about _power,_ don't you?" He gazed down at his hand.   
  
"I do," Gundham confirmed. "...So within you _is_ a special ability...?"  
  
"Yeah, maybe," Nagito realized, "it's a power that has terrible results, due to the fact I can't wield it on my own."  
  
"...I see..." Gundham did seem admittedly pulled in by the topic. Polarized and tantalized by the flaws and intricacies of his thinking.  
Besides, Nagito hadn't quite realized then, Komaeda was the only person Gundham had found that was actively taking interest in him. They may as well entertain each other.  
  
Nagito could never discern Gundham's opinion on him, but he hoped then and there that Gundham _was_ listening, and some part of him didn't hate Nagito.  
"Anyway, let's talk about me!" He smiled cheerfully. He enjoyed speaking about himself. "Hmm... where do I start...?" He rested a hand under his chin, eyes fluttering. "Oh, I know! This happened in elementary school! One day, my family and I were planning to board an airplane from the _San Cristobal_ airport. But-! Surprise, surprise! After we boarded, the plane was hijacked!" Nagito's face animated easily with the story, as if speaking about it brought him some kind of deep satisfaction. "Don't you think that's the _worst_ luck?"  
  
"An unfortunate occurrence," Gundham rationalized.  
  
"But, surprisingly... a meteorite fell at exactly the right time..." He paused, gazing at his palm again. "Well, for a meteorite, it was only the side of a closed fist. Anyway-! That falling meteorite struck the hijacker and prevented any further problems. Don't you think that's an amazing act of good luck?"  
  
"...I suppose, if I were to use simpleton terms of 'fortune' and 'misfortune,' Lady Luck may have held a hand in such an outcome."  
  
Nagito's expression brightened at his comment. "Right! But..." He paused dramatically, eyes sliding away. "The meteorite also hit my parents, and they died instantly..." He futzed with his shirt, balling the fabric into his fist as he closed his eyes to relive the moment. He smiled miraculously. Years of coating a coping resin in the shape of luck's clover over the incident had let it transform from a traumatic incident to a touchstone of absolute power.  
Luck! Just good luck! Not the pitfall of his misery.  
He could smile and fish out memories for his garbage museum, and do so with a smile. Nagito didn't feel.  
"Don't you think that's a terrible act of bad luck?"  
  
"Hmm," Gundham contemplated idly, but did not answer.  
  
"But in the end...!" His voice heightened, eyes fluttering open again. "I obtained my freedom and an immense inheritance! See, it really was amazing luck after all!"  
  
"The loss is far greater than the gain..." Gundham pointed out bluntly. "Did you care for your parents?"  
  
"...Well, I mean-!" Nagito smiled as a mask, his eyes flicking around in search of an answer. "Of course I did.. they're my parents, after all." The ones that were always busy. The ones he almost never spoke to. The ones he almost never heard a compliment from. The ones that were high class and distracted him with trivial things to gratify themselves in leaving him alone for so long. The ones that put work before their child. The ones that, perhaps, should never have had a child.  
_Oh, no,_ that _certainly_ should never have had a child.  
But it would be a lie, a terrible, sinning fib if Nagito said he hadn't loved them. It would be a lie to say he hadn't sat there slack-jawed and sobbed the moment he felt he could.  
To say that the guilt he felt didn't run through his frozen, miserable heart every day of his life.  
_He doesn't think I'm lying,_ Nagito distracted himself. _Good! No one ever believes me...  
_"Ah, there's more. In middle school..." He trailed off, making sure Gundham was still listening.  
  
He was.  
  
Nagito proceeded. "I was kidnapped by a murderer. Man, don't you think that's the worst luck?" He cleared his throat. "But coincidentally, I found a lottery ticket in the trash bag I was stuffed inside of! After I was safely taken in by the police, I checked out the numbers without giving it much thought. Surprise! I'd won _three hundred million_ dollars! Hahaha...! Even _I_ was amazed by this splendid act of good luck!"  
  
"...I see," Gundham observed.  
  
"Oh! And right before I entered Hope's Peak Academy..." but Nagito stopped, biting his lip. "Ah... nevermind. I shouldn't tell this story." He waved a hand. "It's impertinent for me to burden you with all this because of my pointless situation."  
He breathed out a sick, coping laugh.   
"...Well, in that case. There you go."

"...Hm," Gundham allowed, "...I see. Are you certain that rests as a _blessing?_ Not a _curse?_ Your existence seems rather... far from bountiful happiness. Your misfortune would seem to be at a misbalance..."

"Huh? Oh, well... I mean, if it allowed me to get into Hope's Peak Academy, then it must be good luck after all!"

"Yes, but according to your logic, that would result in some terrible run of misfortune to obtain! You failed to mention what that was."

"..." Nagito swallowed hard, breathing out an uncertain breath. "Let's... mm." He hesitated.

Gundham understood. "Ah, perish the thought." His eyes closed, seemingly assessing the situation. His arms remained tucked smoothly against his chest.

There was a silence for a moment, Nagito exhaling a soft yawn that he pressed into the back of his hand.

"...I must admit," Gundham confessed freely, "...you are quite the interesting bauble."

"Huh? Oh..." Interesting again. Nagito thought he was so painfully boring... the idea lifted his spirits a little. "Heh, heh, heh! Thank you!"

"Mm. You recall that you are still bound to me by the contract of your soul, correct?"

"Huh? You mean when I became your _thrall,_ right?" His head tilted. "Yep! I remember that..."

"Yes, indeed. You came initially to speak of our efforts, so I suppose that it would be important to consider our dynamic upon that front. I decree now, officially before the Gods, that you are _my thrall._ Perhaps housekeeper, too. Would you prefer _manservant?_ "

"I'd love manservant!" Nagito cooed a little too enthusiastically. "All very fitting! I'm pleased to serve the - ah, you know. Someone admirable like you!"

"Very well, I shall now decree the conditions of this service - for if you are to be my thrall," he did not use the term 'manservant,' notably, "-then here are your mandates. I am a rather powerful being, and while I employ your services, I have no need of them... if you ever wish to clamor up the ranks from your low regard and claim back that soul contract of yours, I shall allow for a little game. No one shall ever be equivalent in power to myself, obviously... such has already been discussed."

"Right," Nagito said.

"However, if you are to attempt to remain close to me, I request that you hone your power. Your mandates are that you cannot refer to yourself in degrading terms - purely for the purpose of effectiveness... my staff shan't be 'worms,' nor shall they be 'garbage,' at least not in the face of _other humans._ Does that make sense?"

Nagito paled, before his face erupted into a faint blush. "-Ah, I'm not allowed to deprecate anymore?"

"No, you are not. Furthermore, your talent is now an instrument of my command. As such, you mustn't bring yourself guilt from its use, as it is not under your whim, or even destiny's-! But _mine_ now..."

"No uh... no making myself feel bad about my talent, got it...!" _Wait a minute._

"And I shall include, I am not _'The Ultimate Breeder'_ alone, but instead, the Supreme Overlord of Ice, Gundham Tanaka! While my title is worthy of boasting, you must know the true terror that you intend to serve! I am not an object. You are free to pledge your worship to me any which way you like, but 'tis important that you recognize my superiority to Hope's Peak..."

"...Right. Got it, uh - Gundham. Master?"

"Gundham is acceptable," he corrected very, _very_ quickly. "And I conclude, these _other_ Ultimates are beneath you... you are an object of my possession now, and as such, you are inherently superior to those who are not. My choices are not feeble... my choices are not insignificant. My choices are not _foolish._ I would only take a thrall that would be _beneficial_ to the Tanaka Empire in more than service. You have quite the curious special ability, so do not liken yourself to rubble beneath their feet, for the only service you must concern yourself with is _mine._ Do you understand? I shall idly inform you if any of these mandates are violated."

"..." Oh. _He wants me to think of myself better than the other Ultimates, huh..._ "Hey, haha. Forgive me if I'm wrong here... but it seems like you're just trying to enforce some healthy life choices..."

"Don't get ahead of yourself!" Gundham scolded briefly. "Do you accept the mandates? Do you employ yourself into my undying service, so long as your soul is in my grasp?"

"...Uhhh..." Nagito blinked, before a sunny smile rose to life. "Yep! Alright, I accept. Heh, heh, heh, heh! Thank you for letting me become something so important to you!"

"Hm, it is merely a benefit," Gundham chided, but his head lifted diligently. "Now, if that is settled..."

Gundham turned quietly, crouching to address the friendly chicken bobbling at him from his feet.

"-Ah, wait," Nagito said quickly, getting off the fence and entering the enclosure Gundham stood in. "...Thanks, really. I mean... I know what you're doing. And... I don't..." _Think it'll work. You can't give something so miserable and worthless any semblance of self-worth._

But this was a gift. He dare not make Gundham regret it, and he dared not disrespect it. "Ah, nevermind. I'll do my best not to disappoint you. I'm not here to be an obligation... heh, heh, heh. I'm just glad to have the chance to prove myself to you!" That was right, wasn't it?

Somehow, despite how hopeless Nagito's feelings were towards himself, the statement filled him with a warm, fluttering feeling inside his chest. He _wanted_ to do this. If an ultimate was going to this for him, then he didn't want to disappoint him! He wanted to try, just as an expression of gratitude.

"Hm." Gundham paused, finding a meager smile on his face, too. "Ah, well. I've belief that you shall uphold your side of the contract. Who knows what could happen, should you face yourself! That 'hope' you speak of... perhaps seek it in places you deem improbable. Such a thing, if it be your fixation, may help you find your purpose. That is not to say your status has changed..."

Nagito's cheeks grew another shade of pink. _Huh?_ He wanted him to look for hope somewhere that... he didn't expect to find it? He wrung his hands, smiling, smiling beautifully and wringing his hands. Repetitive fiddling. "Ah, I'll try and be observant! I'll let you finish your time here for now... but before I go, I guess I wanted to ask... do you think you'd want to spend any time together? Ah - you know, _outside_ of our investigations. Do you think you'd ever want to go somewhere sometime... just to have fun?"

"Fun?" Gundham echoed, turning back to the other.

"Yeah! You know... I like spending time with you! Heh, heh. And, I mean, if I'm your _official thrall_ now, it would make sense if we spent more time together! Do you think that'd be alright with you? I mean, if you're feeling up for it at the time?"

"..." Gundham paused, but was soon to conjure up an answer. "Hm. Certainly. Simply seek and uncover me and I suppose we could have an outing."

Nagito felt his heart soar, a smile springing onto his features. "-Ah! Thank you! Haha... I'll be sure to try and make it worth your while. Ah, well... I'll find you then. See ya!" He waved a hand.

"..." Gundham gave him a nod, his form of farewell. "Hm. Until we meet again."

Tucking his hands into his pockets, Nagito squared his shoulder and turned on his heel. Finally, an official, welcoming goodbye. A complete conversation.

As he walked, his thoughts found a focus on Gundham again, unable to help how much his thoughts clouded around him.

An Ultimate - of course he'd always admired him as an Ultimate. A superior.

But there was something about his words - about what he said - about how much _hopeful_ potential he seemed to stir. Nagito couldn't stop thinking about it.

Did he love his talent? Did he love his hope?

Oh, it had to be something like that! It must have been his hope, _his hope!_ How much he tried to understand, how insightful he was, how much dominance he established, how controlled and collected he was.

How tall and fixated he stood, how powerful and establishing he was able to be. There was something about him... there was something about him, Nagito realized, that wasn't quite present in the other beacons of hope.

Did he love that hope? He did love that hope, of course he did! It only made sense! That potential was beautiful and raw - he was excited to see it blossom forth!

Nagito loved all hope in all forms!

Was that it? Of course Nagito loved hope - all he knew how to do was love _hope_ itself.

That was it, wasn't it?

His excitement for the future, his hope for the potential of the ultimates!

His happiness to be indulged!

That was why Nagito felt so light on his feet!

That was the equation, wasn't it?

And then Nagito hesitated. No. That wasn't quite it.

_Oh._

He stopped walking.

... _Do I love him?_


	11. Prying Eyes

Why Gundham had agreed to go out, Nagito could not entirely know.  
He was never one for outings - much less with mortals.  
And yet, when Nagito had knocked patiently on his cabin door and invited him out, the breeder soon began venturing along. His pace to the diner was rather slow, as if proving a point.  
_'Just because I'm coming along with you, it does not mean I am a compliant pawn.'_  
There was no harm in tagging along, so long as Nagito knew he was simply choosing to indulge because he had nothing else better to do. And his reasoning was sound enough - he was his designated thrall... and they saw each other quite often anyway.  
Again, no harm. Gundham remained quiet as they traversed.

Nagito didn't seem to think much of it, off in his own world about things he found interesting.  
The lucky student had found himself thinking about the breeder ever since their last talk. He found his eyes occasionally stealing over to make sure the other was still listening as they walked.  
He seemed to be, which pleased Komaeda. It was always somewhat difficult to tell, except when Nagito would trail off, and prompt Gundham to look over in question of his silence.  
Then he would continue.

The diner didn't seem like an ideal spot to take Gundham, but Nagito hadn't eaten, and once he'd asked, he realized Gundham hadn't either.  
"Well," Nagito pointed out. "Haha... if neither of us have eaten, we may as well make a quick stop... right? It's not good for an ultimate like you to go without eating - especially on such a hot tropical island!"

Gundham didn't seem to enjoy being looked after. "I am fine," he tsk'd softly. "Is this where you intended to take me? A mere inn?"

_Inn...? They aren't even serving alcohol here..._ "Ah, no," Nagito chimed. "I was just wandering around... I guess we could go to the ranch, or the beach like before! I mean, we're already in the parking lot..."

Beside the diner was the beach house. As Nagito hoisted himself atop one of the diner's fences, he attempted to peer around the interloping building and catch a glimpse of the sand.  
"...Huh," he commented. "I think I see some people over there."

"Hm?" Gundham busied himself with distributing food to his four dark devas of destruction. At Komaeda's comment, all four poked their heads out from his scarf, whiskers trembling, as if they wished to see what Nagito saw.  
The breeder inclined his head up, tugging the brim of his scarf down slightly in order to provide them a better view. "...Hm." He seemed relatively displeased by the realization.

Nagito realized why. _...Oh. He doesn't really like people, huh...  
_"Hey, we could always go somewhere else! Mind if I go in and grab something? They might have some greens for the Devas in there, too." Nagito always managed to be polite.

Gundham smiled faintly, giving a side-eye to the diner. "...Hmph. I see no reason why not - unless this is your attempt at an idle deception."

_...Wha…?_ "No deception here!" Nagito waved his arms, proving they were absolutely weapon-free! "Just hungry. Come on, I'm sure there's something in there for all of us. Then... we can go wherever _you_ want."

Gundham narrowed his eyes at the other, as if deciding him not to be a very good host.  
However, nodding in affirmation anyway, he replied. "Fine. Let us dine upon what trivial fruitions the divine unseen offers!"

It took Komaeda a second. "...Hey, that's a good point. I mean, where _is_ all this food coming from? I mean, it's fresh..."  
He pushed open the door, smiling at the friendly jingle of the bell upon the door. _Cute._ Nagito had always liked small, jangly things like that. He wasn't sure why. Just added a strange welcome atmosphere.  
The chain on his beltloop clacked against itself in response. He rested a hand upon his hip to silence it, glancing back once at Gundham.

Gundham hardly seemed to have noticed, much less been disturbed, by Komaeda's noisy taste in fashion. His eyes did dart to it once, however.  
"...Is that a skull emblem?" Gundham observed, squinting as he inclined his head downward in order to better see it.

"Oh... this thing?" Komaeda fished for the chain, cupping the skull-shaped charm in his hands as its metallic face stared emptily at them both. "...Yep. Kinda neat, huh?" He glanced up, hoping to find Gundham impressed.

"...Hm. I do quite like its aura..." Gundham allowed.

_...Aura._ That was... kinda weird, but kinda cute, too.  
Dang it. The more Gundham did, the more _into_ him Nagito realized himself to be.  
I mean, it was only natural, he supposed.  
A tall, handsome, brooding goth with a nice jawline and a fiery willpower...  
_Who could blame me-!_ It still felt weird to refer to his feelings as _feelings.  
_Nagito continued to ignore them as he grabbed hold of a banister, plopping himself down into a booth with a soft laugh. "So... what'll it be? We gettin' anything?"

"Of course... otherwise this venture would prove rather pointless..."  
With an overpowering sense of ceremony, Gundham seated himself opposite the lucky student.

Over their shoulders came a loud chatter.  
As Gundham concluded his feeding of the Dark Devas, Nagito found himself peering over the other's shoulder in an attempt to eavesdrop.  
_Jeez... no manners at all._ Didn't stop Nagito, though, even as he scolded himself.

Two booths away, Kazuichi and Teruteru busied themselves with hamburgers.

_"Mannn,"_ Souda voiced, impatiently glancing out the window. "When're the girl's gonna show up? Aren't there supposed to be like, eight of em?"

_"Exactly_ eight of them," Teruteru said, a tantalized smile caressing his features. "Just you wait... pretty soon, they'll be down there in their lingerie all by themselves... totally unsuspecting." He raised a hand, extending two fingers as he accentuated his point with a chuckle.

"...What, you think they'll let us hang with 'em?" Souda theorized. "...Or is this a from-the-bushes kinda deal?"

"The bushes, definitely," Hanamura cooed. "The party doesn't start for another twenty minutes. Until then... we can just buy our time."

Souda cast a glance over his shoulder at Komaeda, who almost immediately glanced away with a hum.

"What're you lookin' at, Kaz?" Teruteru prompted. "...Thinkin' we should invite a few more peeping toms?"

"Ah, I dunno… I mean," Kazuichi's voice went silent, but he thumbed back at _Gundham_ with a disgruntled frown. "He'd be all over Miss Sonia!" The last sentence was spoken in a hoarse whisper, likely because Souda thought himself to be quiet.  
He wasn't quiet.

With that, Nagito leaned back, meeting Gundham's gaze with a smile. _'Can you believe that?'_

The overlord huffed pompously, rolling his eyes and managing a smirk. _'Psh. No.'_

At the suggestion, though, Komaeda did feel a tightness in his throat. _Sonia..._ that's right. Almost all of the time Gundham spent away from Komaeda - which was a fair share of it - he was alone, or he was with with Sonia.  
The regal princess girl from Novoselic. Komaeda had researched her extensively, considering how many of her life details were displayed on a simple internet browser.  
Her birthday, parents, siblings, birthplace, birthday, awards, achievements, languages learned, countries overseen, scandals, times kidnapped... he'd seen it all. And memorized most of it.  
She was beautiful, Nagito would give her that. Charming, too. Definitely regal.  
For how much they talked... Komaeda worried, silently, that Gundham liked her. _Like that.  
_He didn't find the need to dwell on it though. What had he expected?  
_I am a pretty worthless lucky student after all...  
_Of course he had to _struggle_ for Gundham's attention. It made an uncomfortable amount of sense.  
But - ah, with everything going on, it seemed pretty silly to get so caught up on confusing feelings he'd been trying not to elaborate on.

"May as well see what they say," Teruteru argued, resting his chin against his hand, whistling softly until Komaeda and Tanaka both had turned their attention to him.  
"Would either of you," the chef began, voice light, "like to join us? The _girls_ are having a beach party today... and we thought we may as well become uninvited guests. Talk about a view..." He whistled again. "Either of you boys interested?"

"..Hmph. _No_ ," Gundham declined flatly. "Such perversions hold no interest to me..."  
He glanced across the table at Nagito passively, awaiting his answer.

"..." Nagito paused, wetting his lips.  
_...Wait a second. Is Gundham gay?  
_Was he reading too deeply into that brief response? It had been pretty short... but he hadn't hesitated either.  
Was he just being courteous of the girls? _Makes sense... what a gentleman.  
_But Komaeda did have to take a second glance at Gundham's earring and his scarf just to be sure.  
And his rings.  
And his necklace.  
And his _make-up._  
_Ah, come on, that's hardly straight._ His cheeks flushed, suddenly considering an opening.  
Hardly an opening, being the worthless wormy trash-bucket he was, but it was better than staring at someone who was incapable of staring back.  
Considering his luck, he'd been expecting something like that.  
_Maybe I can ask him later,_ he rationalized. _Ah, wait - no I can't!  
_Nagito held up his hands with a soft laugh. "Ah! No thank you... I'm just fine."

"Ah, well. Alright, then." Teruteru settled back into his seat again, beginning off another conversation with Kazuichi. "Like I was sayin'..."

Komaeda tuned them out, tilting his head at the breeder. "Seems like a violation of boundaries to me," he critiqued softly. "Spying on all those girls... not very cool. 'Ya know?" And that was genuine, of course.  
Nagito often chastised those who were rude to women. It just didn't sit quite right with him.

He was relieved, yet not quite surprised to see Gundham nodding.  
"Hmph. I suppose it would be right to warn Sonia... as well as the others," he frowned lightly, seemingly disappointed the act was necessary at all. "It would not be right to allow it," he decided. "Come on."

"Huh-?" Oh! Getting up! Yep! Nagito was doing that now. "Right! I'll come with you! We just... didn't even get any food! Haha..." Hurriedly, the lucky student picked up a plate of fries before slipping out the jingle-jangling door after the breeder.

He managed to keep stride, smiling amiably at him. "Fry? All I could grab on time."

With an uncertain squint. "Sans dressing?"

_Sans? Like the video game guy?_ Nagito was pretty sure he meant the old-fashioned meaning, though. "Ah, yeah. Unsalted, too, I think..."

"...Hm." Gundham delicately and precisely took one.

_...One._ Nagito gave a soft, charmed laugh. He took one of his own. "Cheers!" He offered the depressingly short French fry out towards Gundham's hand.

Gundham frowned, squinting at it uncertainly, as if he suspected Nagito to be pulling some trick. "...This is hardly a call for cheers..."  
Indulging after a moment, Tanaka unceremoniously tapped his fry against the one Nagito held, before continuing to walk on in silence.

...The gesture, although small, made Nagito smile a little.  
"...Heh," he chuckled softly, popping his morsel into his mouth and following along at a hurried pace.

Not quite their planned outing, but an outing nonetheless.  
Nagito felt relaxed.

_...This is fun._ For a moment, he forgot the waiting game.


	12. Hidden Agenda

It didn't take long for the duo to overhear the chatter of excited girls, the group in their swimwear as they strolled along the pavement towards the beach.

Nagito had nothing to look forward to in terms of _sight-seeing_ , and he was inwardly delighted to see that Gundham also seemed beyond disinterested.  
For once, Nagito observed as the breeder stepped forward, beginning a conversation with the group.

"Kittens-!" He greeted, eyes sparking with the sizzling energy that he always seemed to carry with him. "I must interlope in your path in order to pass on a dialogue of warning..."

The girls all looked up - well, all the ones that were there, anyway.  
Komaeda recognized most of them. Mikan, Mahiru, Sonia, Hiyoko, Ibuki, Chiaki, Akane… _no Peko.  
Weird._ He was sure she was around somewhere - perhaps just the anti-social type.  
He wasn't exactly certain how to take the _'kittens'_ comment, though. He'd never heard something like that out of Gundham… usually it was 'fiend.'  
And he doubted he'd hear him calling a _boy_ something like that. _...Would I like it if Gundham called me a kitten?_  
His thoughts were interrupted.

"Oh, Gundham!" Sonia stepped forward authoritatively. "A warning? Is there danger at the beach?"

"Danger... it would depend what you considered an imposition," Gundham stilted each of his words dramatically, made-up eyes flaring with accented effect. An emphasis. "However... I have observed that there are those who intend to lay predatory eyes upon your conquest of the mythic landscape of _sand..._ " Gundham paused, the last word emphasized as he drew a hand up, screening his face with his fingers.

"Can't you just talk normally!?" Hiyoko bullied, "what the heck is he even saying?"

"He says," Sonia held up a hand, finding his words easy to translate. "That - someone is to spy on us? Is that right?"

"Hmph. I would not have intervened were it not an inappropriate act... I thought it well that you should be wary of unwanted approach," Gundham answered. "But _yes -_ prying eyes of desperate sinners. They should prey upon you, should you lower your guard."

A few of the girls were shifting anxiously. Some anxious to get to the sand, others seemingly put off by his warning.

"It's true," Nagito sighed. "I heard it, too."

"...I see," Sonia frowned. "...Uhm… allow me just a moment to think." Her pale blue eyes found the pavement, fingers folding regally against her waist.

"...I mean - not sure if you'd feel comfortable with it," Nagito's raspy voice took up again, a pleasant smile on his face. "But... maybe Gundham and I could sit on the perimeter for you guys! You know... to make sure no guys come in to spy on you. I wouldn't mind... then you'd be free to have fun without worrying about it at all!"

"...Eeewwww," Hiyoko almost immediately rejected. "That's just like what a _pervert_ would say! You guys are just lying 'cause you want a look for yourselves!"

_Huh? Pervert?_ Nagito blinked, raising his hands with a breathy laugh. "Ah - now, now... I wouldn't do that... and I'm sure Gundham wouldn't either! Right?"

" _Besides,_ " Mahiru interjected, "this _is_ supposed to be a _girl's only_ beach party... wouldn't it go against the whole point if we let you guys tag along? It only makes sense that all you boys would want in on it..."

"Ah - wait," Sonia insisted, her head lifting slightly as she regarded the others' rejections of the idea. "I... trust that Gundham would do no such thing! He has a great respect for things like this... and - if _he_ were to promise to keep away unwanted guests, I'm sure we could all believe in him! Right Gundham?"

"...Hmph. Certainly... evasive methods such as that would be far too _obvious_ an approach... the idea in itself is insulting, to think I would take arms in such an unskilled attack..." Gundham snorted. "Casting my arcane eyes upon the perimeter of this place should be no difficult feat."

"Very well! Thank you, Gundham!" Sonia paused, lifting both of her hands in antsy uncertainty as her eyes swiveled over to Nagito. "And... what about your friend, Nagito? Will he be... alright?"

It didn't take a genius to see that Sonia was asking whether or not he'd be a creep. Nagito laughed softly, attempting to be unassuming. He chose not to speak up again, letting his eyes rest on Gundham instead.

"...He should be fine. I shall keep eyes upon him," Gundham assured.

"Very well. If... everyone is A-OK with that," Sonia attempted a commonplace term to lighten the mood, "then... we should continue on! Is that alright with everyone else?"

A few of the girls seemed relatively uneasy, but Akane didn't seem dissuaded at all.  
"Sure! Glad they could make it! The more the merrier, right?"

"Yep," Chiaki chimed in, drawing up a thoughtful finger to rest on her chin. "The more, the merrier..."

"Right! Let us there be more of us! And merrier of us!" Sonia proclaimed, rested a hand on her arm as she lifted it into view, posing similar to one of those old posters of feminist encouragement. "Now then! There is nothing more to wait for! Let's resume our beach party!"

With a few encouraging cheers, the girls continued their parade to the sand, leaving the two boys to take up the rear.  
  
As they walked, Komaeda found an easygoing smile and slipped his hands into his pockets. "...So," he chimed, glancing to the side to catch a glimpse of Gundham again. "How about it? Do we need our swim trunks?" _Please say yes._

"...Hmph. I've no intent to stray into the water," Gundham declined.

_No!_ "Huh? Why?" Komaeda asked. "I mean... shouldn't we at least change to keep the sand off our clothes?"

"...I've..." Gundham paused, "...an aversion to _water-types_ \- though you make a fair argument. I suppose no harm would come of that."

_Water-types...?_ Was Gundham saying he couldn't swim? Ah - Nagito wouldn't push it. "Right you are! I can go grab some... if you want to guard the girls while I do."

"...Hrmm… perhaps later," Gundham considered. "-Though be swift."

"Roger that!" Nagito hummed cheerfully. "I'll be right back." He gave Gundham a quick wave, breaking off from the group as he made a sharp left. He cut ties with the sand in order to let himself into the beach house.  
It only took him a few minutes to change, peeking outside to make sure that Gundham hadn't wandered off anywhere.

Indeed, he hadn't. Gundham remained nearby, standing idly between the sidewalk and the shore, staring off at the sun in idle, distant thought.

Nagito approached, reaching out to tap him on he shoulder, but... hesitating.  
He drew his lips into a thin line, retracting his hand. _Right. I'm not allowed to touch him.  
_"Ah - Gundham. Your turn." Nagito puffed up his pale, unsightly chest as Gundham turned, managing a confident smile despite the frailty of his body.

"...Hm." Gundham didn't cast his shirtlessness a second glance, much to Komaeda's dismay. "I see... bestow the garments to me."

Nagito bestowed the garments, and Gundham disappeared quickly into the beach house.

...Ah, well. Nagito approached the beach, kneeling in the sand and turning his back on the girls' fun. He modeled a new castle out of sand, shaping the base with a passive hum. He hoped the girls would feel comfortable with him there, having recognized their reluctance to his joining. He dared not let himself get in the way of _any_ Ultimate's happiness.

He was perfecting the peak of the first sand tower when he sensed Gundham approaching.  
Excitedly, the lucky student looked up, expression lighting up with near-immediate delight.

There was Gundham, crossing his arms over his chest and bowing his head to escape the view of the sun. Still trailing behind him was his scarf, which folded neatly around him as he eyed the castle. "Oh?" His head tilted as he adjusted his sitting position, giving the architecture a haughty sneer. "I never took you for a certified architect of royal castles..."

"Royal castles? Ah... this is just a sand castle, but I'm sure with your approval, it could be royal!" He laughed softly.

"Fine then," Gundham sat up straighter, eyes perusing Nagito's work. "Show me your skills!"

"I will!" Chimed the lucky student happily.

"No matter what fortress you erect," Gundham continued, "I will crush them all."

"..." _Wait._ Nagito blinked, a hand still smoothing a carefully constructed window in the sand wall. "...Crush it...? Ah - don't you think it would be nicer if we _built_ the castle together instead? I mean... I'm just a measly lucky student."  
With the earning of a soft glare, he raised a hand - 'just wait a second!'  
"And...! With your help... I think this castle could last a lot longer! And be a lot more royal! Besides, I'm sure a royal structure like that would work wonders in guarding the ladies! Once we're done here... I'm sure we can crush it. But before that, let's sculpt a powerful castle together."

"...Fine," Gundham allowed, bemused. "...You wish to construct a devious castle-? Very well then... I shall lend you my power in this endeavor just once..." He exhaled a soft chuckle. "Now then... prove to me your _fortitude...!"_

"Yep! On it..." And with that, Nagito smiled as he continued the formation of his architecture, occasionally stealing a glance behind him just to keep an eye on the girls.  
His eyes kept finding Sonia before casting back down. _She and Gundham are pretty close friends, huh..._ He hadn't known that.  
He didn't know why that felt unpleasant. _...Guess I'd thought I was his only friend._ Yet another factor that made him far from special.  
He chose to ignore it for now. Clearing his throat, Komaeda shifted around the perimeter of the castle, marking quickly in the sand.

"Let's let my castle represent Nezumi castle," he strategized without a second thought. "This is where the camera is. Right?"

Gundham immediately picked up on his course of action, shifting back to allow the architect more room. "Correct, yes..."

"Right. This building -- and..." He drew a circle a few inches away. "This... I'm sure you saw when we were exploring... it's _Usami's house._ Right?"

"Of course... you count the realms to which we cannot gain entry - that and those ruinous castle holdings, correct?"

"Right!" Nagito nodded, reaching out an arm to mark one final circle. "Ruins. Over here. Now... there's a camera here..." He marked an X. "And here." Another X. "And one by Usami's house right..."  
_Here._ An X again.  
Breathing out a soft sigh, Nagito continued. "So... if we're going to figure out what's going on here... we're probably going to need access to these locations. Judging by the placement of the cameras... it's likely whoever's watching already _knows_ what we're after. My thoughts? Maybe they're the person behind Usami - or even that bear guy. And I was thinking... what if it's the _sixteenth student?_ "

"...Sixteenth student," Gundham exaggerated the word. "Hmph. Back where we began... you seem oddly fixated on their absence. have you not familiarized yourself with the students of the class? Your obsession is apparent - should it not extend to your knowings?"

"Doesn't it only make sense? I _don't_ remember... not single clue about the last student. My garbage memory-"  
He glanced up, cutting himself off when he recognized Gundham's silent disapproval. "What I meant to say is... it's suspicious." Komaeda argued softly, tapping the ruins' marking in the sand. "And this building... looked like _Hope's Peak Academy._ And yet, when I looked in the library... we're supposed to be on Jabberwock Island. A popular tourist trap. And still... nobody's here. _Something's_ up."

"...Indeed, though you repeat knowings we've remained aware of this whole time."

"Ah, ah, ah," Nagito interrupted apologetically. "Hear me out. You said no to the explosives... and I have one last shot at information. I'll fill you in on whether or not it works. But in the meantime... we have to mind those rules Usami set in place. Even if you don't think the arson is a good idea, there's no way we can get through any of these passcoded doors blindly. Someone... must be hiding inside Usami's house. It's the only building with a functioning door - with a _lock._ Do you get what I'm saying?"

"It would be the likeliest hiding space for _someone among us,_ " Gundham lifted his head, squinting. "...The puppeteer of Usami's fate."

"And," Nagito concluded. "Where we have to start. _She_ can let us in. If we..." Nagito sucked in a breath, casting a wary glance around the beach - just to make sure no cameras were eyeing them. With a light exhale, his gaze returned to the breeder. "... _Convince_ her. Blackmail? Threats? Persuasion..? Something. Or one of us could lead her away, and the other could try a _break-in._ Even if we don't find anything, it's a step in the right direction. Even if _nothing's there,_ then we _know_ it's irrelevant, and that in itself is telling."  
For a moment, Nagito worried Gundham wouldn't be able to keep up. To his delight, Gundham nodded curtly before he'd even finished speaking.

"You mean to say... that is the new course of our mission?"

"Yes," Nagito confirmed, before wiping the sand playing field clean. Free from any suspicious markings. He returned to the sand sculpture. "If we can't get into Nezumi Castle first, that is. Anyway… that's all I had to say. It's something to start thinking about."

"...Hmph. What a clever bauble," Gundham mused in passing, sliding a finger into the folds of his scarf in order to massage the pelts of his resting hamsters.  
Then, he slowly began the feat of constructing the castle.

Nagito let a few silent minutes drift by. "So... you're close with Sonia?"

"We speak at times." He denied the label 'friend.'  
Perhaps he did that with everyone.

"Ah.. alright. You don't think she'd be useful in our mission, right?" Nagito didn't like that he would be _giving_ him the idea, but he had to excuse his probing questions somehow. The lucky student preferred their private operation. "Because otherwise," he added quickly, "we should probably tell nobody... we don't want the word to get around."

"...You speak truths," Gundham tsk'd softy. "I find no reason to recruit her as of yet. The jurisdiction rests in our hands alone, for now..."

"Ah, yeah. You're right. Let's keep it between us."  
And with that, speak of their plans reached a lull of silence.  
They constructed their sand castle, before bickering on about meaningless things.

Ever since their commitment, Nagito felt _less_ like he was taking precarious steps over glass with every word he spoke. At odds, sure, but a comfortable breed of uneasy.  
Less like co-workers by the will of desperation, and more like an awkward kind of friendship - if only Nagito could be so bold as to consider himself something besides _friendless._

Eventually the beach party drew to a close. The girls said their goodbyes, as did Nagito to Gundham.  
The lucky student took off, wiping sand off of his pale, thin legs with a beach towel. Shaking grains from his large tufts of his hair as he slipped back into his jeans.  
With the jingle of the chain worming about at his waist, he strolled back to his cabin without another word.

He knocked on the door, knowing no one would answer, and smiled as he invited himself inside.  
  
The lights were out.  
He flicked them on.

And there on the floor, empty eye sockets staring out at him, was the rubble of a familiar face.  
The wires and parts strewn about, haphazardly snapped and strapped back together in all sorts of awkward positions. The monochrome metal shone from the ceiling's artificial light.  
Nagito quickly closed the door, allowing no one to glimpse inside at his dismantled prisoner.

He parted his lips, an uncanny smile teasing his lips as he choked up an uncomfortable, cruel laugh.

"Oh... look. You waited for me." Good thing he'd brought the thing home to his cabin so many nights ago without telling a soul. Gundham had turned in for the night on that first outing together, but _Nagito_ had slipped away. _Nagito_ has stayed awake. _Nagito_ had hunted until he found his prize.

And then he hid it away.  
Less questions that way.  
And countless hours to experiment.

He knelt before the body of the black and white bear, a sneer gracing his features.

"Don't worry," he cooed. "I'll have you up and running again soon..." His thumb caressed the lifeless metal cheek of the thing's dismembered head.  
"...And you're going to tell me _everything_."


	13. Traitor

Komaeda neglected the outdoors.  
The moment he'd woken up, he shunned the filtered sunlight from the blinds of his window, drawing them shut quickly as he inspected the floor and took a knee.  
Reaching down a tentative hand, Nagito smoothed his fingers over the tattered wires of the metallic bear's system.

"There you are," he purred. "We're fixing you up now, aren't we...? Hang in tight."

He'd been fiddling with the mechanics all morning, experimenting with the mechanisms he'd collected. Pieces were missing, but if he could just get the thing speaking again...

He twisted a knob, inserting a newly-repaired wire into one of the various sockets dotting the bottom of the bear's head.  
After connecting a few more wires, Nagito overturned the head again, tapping the mechanical glass cover of the darkened eye.

"You in there?"

A soft humming sound emanated from the head, a spark jittered freely from one of the stray wires. A dangerous-sounding chugging noise began, then stopped, as a brief sound clicked on.

Komaeda quickly flipped the head over again, smirking deviously at a small, yellow light that had begun flashing on and off.  
The light display persisted, even as the seconds continued to drone by.

On. Off. On. Off. A signal.  
_Signal?_ _What kind of signal?_ Something he could read?

Nagito set the head down again, sitting back into a squatting position as he retrieved his Student Handbook from the carpeted floor. The lucky student has been fiddling with it briefly, attempting to play with the compatibility of the two machines, and not having much luck. _Ironic._

Now...  
_If that light really is a signal... it should be outputting something traceable. Right?_ He scribbled down a few crudely-drawn notes into a piece of paper, documenting the success of the wire.  
_Either that... or there could be another setting. Could be part of the start-up sequence...  
_It was traceable, that was the important part. And it was a step in the right direction.

_Hope nobody finds the signal too early!_ Nagito laughed to himself, musing the idea of a despair-filled failure.

\--And almost immediately, there was a knock on his door.

Shell-shocked, the lucky student's eyes shot up, glaring at the knob with a twitching frown.

_Is that Gundham?_ The response was immediate. Almost too immediate.

There was no looking glass to spy through the door. Briefly, Nagito considered opening up a window and crawling into the moat below. That way... he could get a vantage at whoever was at his door. He could decide whether or not to engage him.  
But that would be abandoning his machine parts by an open window. _Am I overthinking this?_

Nagito breathed heavily, pressing himself against the wooden door, and squinting a tired eye through the keyhole.  
_'Gundham?'_ He almost asked for him by name, but if it wasn't him, he'd be outing an accomplice.  
"Yeah? Anyone out there?"

"...Hey," came a soft-spoken, feminine voice, the shadow outlined through the keyhole shifting briefly from side to side. "It's me, Chiaki... I was... wondering if I could come inside."

"Ah... sorry, Chiaki..." Nagito laughed softly, raising a hand of assurance despite her inability to see him. "Not feeling my best... i think I'd be more ready for company a bit later."

"...It's a bit important," she cleared her throat audibly. "...Do you think you could open the door?"

"..." Nagito fell into a silence, drawing his tongue over his chapped lips as he glared at the knob. "...The door...?" _Why does she want a look inside?_  
Already, he was beginning to fastidiously place the parts away, unplugging the wire from the socket and stuffing the pieces of the monochrome bear away under his bed.  
He had to question whether or not he was being too cautious, but the longer each second passed, the more wrong the confrontation felt.  
_No... she knows something. Did she trace the signal somehow?_ It was just _too_ immediate. __

__Nagito rested a clenched hand at the knob, hesitating for a moment as he sucked in a quick breath. He pulled the door ajar, sending a cold, unfeeling glare through the crevice left.  
"I could be coming down with something..." Nagito rasped. "I would hate to get an Ultimate sick."  
If Chiaki really did know something, he prayed she wasn't taken advantage of somehow. He refused to believe an Ultimate would be capable of diverting hope from its proper course.  
Either that, or she wasn't an ultimate at all. Ah, it would sort itself out.  
"Need something?"

He noticed as Chiaki's pink pupils probed around him, her cheeks puffing with uncertainty.  
"Ah... yeah. I just... wondered if you were okay in there. You've been a shut-in since this morning... and you missed breakfast. Your classmates were pretty worried..."

Her game console was out of her hands for once - Nagito had every ounce of her attention. That felt uncharacteristic, and he didn't like it.  
She was normally tired or distracted. The lucky student had taken very detailed note of everyone's characteristics and mannerisms.  
_This can't be right._

"...Ah. You're right - I'll come out in a second. Is there still food leftover?"

"...No, I don't think so... you could probably ask Teruteru, though..." she brought a tired finger up to her cheek, tapping it lazily in thought.

...She was trying to herd him away from his parts.  
"Sure. Haha-! Assuming I enjoy what he thinks of as a good meal..." A backhanded joke. With a cheerful enough smile, Nagito closed the door.  
Locked it.  
And, seizing a chair from behind his writing desk, he tucked the piece of furniture under the knob, securing it in place.

"Just - give me one moment, please... heh, heh..."

He eyed the window.  
Well, he had told her he'd be going _out._ He just didn't specify _how_ he intended to.  
Lifting the windowsill, Komaeda peered into the murky tropical tides below his cabin.

It was typical for Nagito act in spontaneous calculation, and this moment made no exception.

Quickly tugging up the zipper on his green-colored coat, the lucky student slipped from the opening, and tumlbed with a splash into the water below.  
Pulling himself onto the dock, drenched in the sting of salt water, Nagito gave an exasperated pant, rising to his feet wiping the dampness from his lips.

His eyes diverted left. Then right. Had she heard that splash?

Either way, he didn't have time to lose.  
He had to find Gundham. And soon.  
  
_Someone's onto us._


	14. Crossing the Line

Wringing out the wrinkles in his army green coat, Komaeda frowned as his drenched shoes began to collect tropical sand.  
That was going to be a pain to wash out later...  
  
With a soft sigh, Nagito's eyes danced around, aimlessly guiding himself around the first island in hopes of finding his partner in crime.  
  
Occasionally, Nagito would glance back, scanning his surroundings for any signs of watchful eyes.  
Part of him wondered if he could trust Gundham at all, but that thought was fleeting. If anything, this possibility at a traitor within the cast sunk its teeth into any plans to split off from the breeder.  
How many people _couldn't_ he trust?  
Nagito wasn't being overly cautious, right?  
  
Did it even matter if he was?  
Raising his eyeline again, a smile crept onto his features. _Oh...!  
_There, distancing himself was the ranch, was the fleeting figure of Gundham Tanaka.  
  
Nagito squeezed salt water from a few strands of his hair, before starting at an exhausted jog after the other ultimate.  
"Hey--! Gundham!" He called, raising a hand to wave it to him as he ran.  
Probably not the most subtle greeting, he realized too late.  
  
The breeder stopped, casting a confused glance over his shoulder.  
  
The other waited for Nagito to draw nearer, eventually reaching Gundham as the lucky student leaned forward, planting his hands on his knees as he exhaled a few tired pants onto the ground.  
  
"...You've been battling with water-types..." Gundham observed the drenched Nagito.  
  
"...Haha, yeah. Something like that..." Clearing his sore throat, Nagito looked up. His frail body wasn't used to so much spontaneous exercise. What a ride!  
"...Hey. I need to talk with you about something. Let's... walk somewhere." _Without cameras._ He hoped Gundham would catch his implication.  
  
"..." Gundham raised his gaze into the distant horizon, seemingly giving it a quick look over. As if he suspected already that Nagito had been pursued.  
Then he nodded. Silently, he lead the way.  
  
Komaeda could only tag along, making certain he wasn't drawing any eyes.  
But the longer he moved, the more he felt gazes probing at him.  
Nobody could help but to stare at the lucky student, his hair drenched and clinging to his face. His clothes still damp from his plunge in the water. His body quivering with chills.  
Were the eyes only curious...? Or devious?  
  
Once they'd wandered far enough from where they knew the cameras to be, the breeder halted, pivoting dramatically on his heel until he faced the other.  
"What trivial things need you say, servant?"  
  
_S-Servant!?_ A rosy blush blossomed upon Nagito's face, his breath catching with... an unusual _intrigue_. Ah - _focus!_  
"...Ah! Well," he decided to omit the details about the mechanical bear underneath his bed. "I can't help but think that there might be a few of us we should be worried about..."  
  
"...' _Worried about?'_ " Gundham brushed off pompously. "And why is that?"  
  
Nagito paused, raising a hand in order to stare at the intricacies of his palm. "...I was in my room today - and _Chiaki_ came in... demanding that I open up the door. Right?"  
  
"...Right," Gundham stated, seemingly not gaining much significance from the statement.  
  
"Just seemed a little deliberate. Now, I know it doesn't seem like much, but she kept asking what I was doing... and trying to pry into things like that. All while I was in there -- mmf." He paused for the briefest of intervals. "...Working on our plans. The second I'd started - like... she knew, you know?"  
  
"...I see. So you believe those within your ranks may pledge their loyalties against ours?" He raised a lack-of-brow.  
  
"...Yeah. Basically. I didn't want her to get inside and see what I was planning, so I hid it and jumped out through the window!" He smiled, as if the recollection of his escape brought him some kind of joy. "Hahaha! And then from there... I was able to climb the dock and find you."  
  
"...So you suggest that whomever watches us... _knows_ of our endeavors?" He repeated in a language only he comprehended with ease.  
  
Nagito nodded, resting a tired hand on his hip. "...Yep. That's it."  
  
"...Hmph." Gundham glanced in the other direction, taking a moment to comprehend the situation himself. "And we can trust no one outside ourselves?"  
  
"...In theory, yeah," Nagito rasped softly.  
  
"...Hrm," Gundham took in. "I see no need to change how we've gone about our takings... 'tis a mere warning of caution - which even now we take." He exhaled slowly, crossing his arms over his chest. "...Are we not to carry ourselves as normal?"  
  
"...Huh? You think we should just... continue along like we are now?" Nagito questioned. His head tilted slightly, before a smile mused onto his lips. "Heh. Yeah. I guess that does make sense... but it means we have to work faster. And maybe we'd have to meet under less... _suspicious_ circumstances. That, and we might need to work a little faster... I've been starting to worry about marching right up to Usami's house and not knowing anything. Does that make sense?"  
  
"...Indeed, it would," Gundham allowed. "...Hmph. You said earlier that you wished to obliterate the force field preventing us from entering the castle?"  
  
Nagito's eyes lit up. "...Huh? You mean blowing up the wall?" He wrung is hands anxiously, wetting his lips excitedly.  
  
"...Yes. Summoning forth a maelstrom of brimstone and fire - powerful enough to demolish the frail force field presented by that _cobblestone fortress."  
  
_"Heh. So much for being subtle... but that _is_ faster - and more efficient." Nagito dusted his hands quickly. "Sure. We'd have to be fast... but if they're already onto us, may as well try and pull it off. Might violate a school rule, but what's the worst that can happen! Haha... a detention?" He shook his head at the idea, a warm, strange smile stretching across his lips. "...Sure. With your _powers,_ though..." He entertained the other's persona. "...I'm sure it'll be no problem at all." Nagito pressed a yawn into the back of his hand, before glancing warily over his shoulder.  
"Well. If that's that..." He peeked back up. "I'll get working. We can meet up later... don't want to seem suspicious - especially since someone might have been following me."  
  
Gundham squinted, seemingly masking perplexity at the other's implied ability to construct a bomb from seemingly nowhere. Then, closing his eyes again, he furled his coat dramatically as he drew away. "Understandable," he deemed. "At a later time then."  
  
Nagito watched in silent awe at the other's graceful movements, before shaking his head with a soft laugh. He waved his hand briefly. "Ah - bye now!"  
  
He turned quietly, sinking his hands into his pockets and beginning to whistle softly.  
  
Good. Time to further the plan.  
Time to cross a line.


	15. Crashing In

It was difficult to construct a bomb with so little parts, but Nagito had practice as well as insight to keep him afloat.  
It pained him to strip a few wires from the Monokuma head, but he swore to himself he could confiscate replacements later.  
Deconstructing his digital clock, he managed to fit in a visible timer. _That'll surely come in handy... don't want to blow ourselves up on accident, right?  
  
_They'd agreed to meet at night - as per usual.  
Komaeda recommended wearing a hood, but he wasn't sure Gundham _had_ anything like that. And even if they did, he feared it wouldn't mask their identity for long. Not with potential eyes on them at all times.  
  
He waited in his room, packing the completed bomb away into a small protective box when he heard a diligent knock upon his door.  
Grasping the handle, he carefully created a sliver of room between the door and the frame, poking an eye outside to observe whoever had called. "...Ah, yeah...?"  
A wave of relief flooded his system to find that the visitor was none other than Gundham Tanaka himself, wearing nothing especially different.  
Giving one glance back to ensure the Monokuma head was entirely out of sight, the lucky student pulled back from the door.  
  
"Have you completed your task, alchemist...?" The breeder inquired, voice stilted and brooding.  
  
"Yep... the bomb, right?" Kneeling for a moment, he scooped the weapon off the floor, holding it up for the other to see. "Right here."  
  
"...Hmph. Impressive that you were able to construct such a device..." Wary.  
  
"Ah-" Nagito fumbled momentarily, giving a dismissing chuckle. "Had some books in the library." That wasn't a lie... books _were_ in the library, and some of them had given him a few pointers. Otherwise, though, the device had been entirely from his creation. But Gundham didn't need to know that right now.  
  
"...Hmph. I see," he seemed to accept the explanation.  
  
"I have an extra hood, too... if you need it. It's just a raincoat, but I figured... why not." Nagito held the bomb cautiously under one arm, swiping the aforementioned garment from the surface of his bed.  
  
"...Hrm - I suppose... could such a thing be fitting for one such as I?" Gundham hesitated.  
  
"Huh? I mean... it's black and broody!" Nagito chimed, before falling silent. _Wait...oh, shoot. He must mean literally._ "Oh… yeah, it's too big for me. Got it at the supermarket! Along with the other bomb parts... did you know they have a gas mask in there? Might be useful later...!" He gave a pleased smile, excited by his discoveries.  
  
"...Might it?" Gundham gently pushed the door open further in order to take the coat from Nagito. "...Hmph." Didn't seem too keen on why a gas mask was at all related to their agenda.  
  
"Emergencies - ehh… I wouldn't worry about it," Nagito insisted, quickly pulling his own army green hood over his supermass of hair. "Ready to go?"  
  
"Certainly... although, be it noted that we are to be without the power of my Four Dark Devas... their hearing is far too fragile to be confronted by such a cataclysm of dismay as that." Gundham pointed stiffly to the explosive box.  
  
"Oh, yep... got it. Speaking of hearing... want some earplugs? I have those, too?" Nagito briefly scrounged around through his pockets, producing two pairs. "Either that or it'll hurt... even for a God like you. You know..." He attempted to appeal to Gundham's persona again.  
  
With a defensive tsk, Gundham squinted suspiciously at the offering, before snatching two of them from his palm. _"Perhaps..._ " he dictated, before turning with a dramatic flair away from the door. "We must go quickly, minion... before the enforcers of darkness arise to put an end to our charade."  
  
"U-Uh...! Right! Haha..." Nagito donned another smile, collecting his things and slipping the plugs into his ears before disappearing after Gundham.  
  
The walk continued on in relative silence, Nagito humming complacently as they strode down the winding walkways that were so commonplace upon the island.  
  
About halfway there, Nagito looked up with a cheery smile.  
"Hey... how _are_ the Devas...?"  
  
"...Hm? They are well..." Gundham acknowledged. "They ponder what doomsday is upon us, and yet... none of us have found ourselves capable of omen-seeking..."  
  
"...Riiight…" Nagito had no idea what that meant, but he nodded supportively anyway. "Anyway - ready for my plan? Once I set the bomb up... all we have to do is take cover, wait for the wall to go down... and then write down the password if it's there and pick up anything important. Then... well. We have to run - remember the back way? It's longer than our shortcut, but it has less cameras, and we're less likely to be pursued. If we go that way... we should be good. Does that work for you?" He glanced up hopefully.  
  
"...Hrm… it would appear so, yes..." Gundham contemplated aloud. "I have faith in such a plan... now that we can commit it to its fullest potential, and cast malevolence upon that _grim tower's demise..."_  
  
"That's good! Hahaha... keeping up hope for our mission...! Amazing." Nagito hesitated, hoping, suddenly, to speak about something else. Sure, it was nice to speak with Gundham, but...  
He wet his lips.  
_Does he really just like me for being his footstool?_ It would be fine, of course, and expected if Gundham really _did_ appreciate him for usefulness alone. _I mean... I am a stepping stool after all!_ Still, though...  
It was the butterflies in his chest that made him suddenly thirsty for validation, but some hungrier need for self-deprivation tied him back . The same one that made him callus to offers of friendship, and made him suddenly resort to mind games and tests that ended up starving his needs.  
It felt like the games Gundham and Nagito subconsciously played were fun, if even there. Slighting one another in self-defense, but so indirectly that it was harmless and soundless.  
Not what Nagito always felt the need to do when his skin crawled and someone attempted to climb into his life. What he wanted so needily, but couldn't handle. What he regurgitated back with word games and masks of insanity that weren't really masks at all.  
He could never allow himself to be happy.  
  
"...Hey. Thanks for hanging out with me," he mumbled, barely loud enough for himself to hear. Then, quietly, he glanced up, seeking a response through the breeder's gaze.  
  
Gundham did look over, but inquired instead: "do you speak?"  
He hadn't heard.  
  
...With a smile, Nagito shook his head. "Ah! Don't worry about it. I'll tell you again once our work is done... irresponsible to try and interrupt our own plan right?"  
  
And soon enough, the Nezumi Castle was in sight.  
  
"Ah - there it is...!" Nagito's expression brightened, a tasting smile spreading across his lips. "Alright... we _should_ have a full minute to take cover once the bomb goes off! Just... let me have a second to set it all up, alright? Hahaha..."  
  
"..." Gundham nodded, reaching up a hand to pull his borrowed hood over his head. "Very well..." He remained close, presumably to supervise.  
  
"Mmm..." Nagito smiled, trudging down to the a stone wall and inspecting it briefly. "...Yep - this one should be just fine. Let me set up for a second..."  
Crouching Nagito unpacked the box he'd been carrying, watching with a semi-prideful smile as the moonlight shone silver off the black surface of the bomb. Giving it a doting look over, like a parent to a child.  
He set the contraption down, fiddling with a few wires and switches until the face of the digital clock sparked to life, displaying an idle timer of one minute.  
"Oh... there it is." Nagito grinned, flipping the device over to flip one last switch before turning it right side up again.  
  
The timer flashed for a few moments, before beginning a silent countdown.  
  
"There we go..." Nagito cooed, standing. "Alright... let's find a place to take cover before this thing blows a _chasm_ through the wall!" His voice heightened at the word 'chasm,' eyes widening with electrified excitement. Something about the duties and necessities of arson riled his already-pounding heart. "Quick!"  
  
Nagito gestured away, peeling away from the wall as he guided the breeder up a brief incline. "Right behind some these rocks, see?" He stretched out a hand, displaying a bank of tall boulders. "Just stuff in the ear plugs if you haven't already, and make yourself small as you can! Easiest way to avoid any debris..."  
The lucky student laid a hand stop the bounders, hopping briefly over the top and taking cover. After a moment, he poked his head back up with an unassuming smile. "There's enough room for us both!"  
  
Only a few moments after his announcement, though, a frantic beeping called out from the bomb against the wall. _What!?_ Was it going off early!?  
He wasn't close enough to tell, but either way, it really was a batch of rotten luck.  
  
Nagito's eyes widened with the faintest of gasps. "Oh - it's... going!"  
  
Gundham seemed to take the cue without waiting for Nagito's warning, hopping over the rocks in what seemed like just the nick of time.  
  
Not even a second later, a flash of light engulfed them both, a cacophonous _boom_ showering over the stillness of the beach as a brief firework display of splinters and stones rained over them.  
  
Ducking for cover, a few small rocks hailed down upon the lucky student's fragile body, one nearly missing his head, a spear of wood narrowly escaping his torso.  
  
After a second, the light disappeared, and the shoreline fell into an eerie silence again.  
  
Nagito hesitated a moment before looking up, grinning erratically at the sight of a fresh hole-punch in the wall. "Phhhhahaha! Got it! It worked...!" Cheekily, he glanced over to his partner.  
"You okay?"  
  
Gundham seemed to be wincing, grinding his teeth quietly as he probed at his thigh.  
  
Nagito's eyes followed the movement, expression ebbing into an awful realization that a piece of wooden shrapnel had seemingly embedded itself there.  
"...Oh... _shit."  
  
_After only a few seconds of fleeting silence, Nagito heard a distant calamity. A door being thrown open with a distressed squeal.  
It wasn't too close yet, thankfully, but it was easy to trace back the voice to a name.  
Nagito paled.  
_Usami._  
Usami was coming.  
  
He looked to the wall - then Gundham - then the wall - then Gundham--  
  
"What are you doing!?" Gundham thundered. "Inspect the writings at once!"  
  
"A-Ah! Right, sorry! Get ready to run...!" Nagito spoke quickly, rising from his spot, and casting one more precautionary glance over his shoulder at the figure behind the rocks,  
  
Gundham, brushing off the wound and standing, stared at him expectantly.  
  
_Ah._ They were both putting the mission first.  
  
Nearly tumbling down the incline, the Lucky Student quickly looked over the debris scattered across the castle floor, eyeing the walls through the paralyzing darkness.  
_No... no... no...?_ There didn't seem to be _anything_ in the castle at all.  
He could hear Usami's frantic shouts growing nearer as his skin crawled with sweat.  
Finally, illuminated by the light of the moon, Nagito's eyes hooked onto the floor.  
  
A square of text had been almost entirely doused with stray rocks and wooden beams, three digits of what was likely a longer code were the only ones he could catch. _110.  
  
110? One one zero what?_ Nagito bit his lip, tearing his eager hands to his chest and running back towards where he knew Gundham was waiting.  
There was more to look at - they had done this for absolutely nothing, unless they were allowed to check again tomorrow.  
  
But being caught would be much, much worse.  
  
Gesturing frantically, Nagito ducked beside Gundham, who wordlessly stole into the night after him, leaving their mess of destruction behind them.  
  
Neither had time for petty, useless words. This was an evacuation.  
Disappearing, hearts pounding, blood leaking from wounds.  
  
Neither of them spoke, silently dodging cameras and the potential of prying eyes.  
They only stopped once they'd reached the gateway to their cabins again, halting for breath.  
  
Gundham stood, seemingly refusing to fall to his knees or to catch his breath too heavily in some mask of pride and refusal of weakness.  
  
Nagito, though, sick and frail, found himself upon the ground, sitting with his back to the gate, gasping to catch his breath as he hugged himself tightly.  
He struggled too long for air, and it wasn't even he who was injured. Opening his eyes, he could see Gundham's hand against his thigh, lifting to inspect traces of pink against his hand.  
  
"...Got three digits..." Nagito spat between breaths. "...That's it. Y-You okay...?"  
  
"...Mm. Not here," Gundham mumbled quietly, holding up a hand to silence Nagito's questions.  
And yet... after a hesitation, the breeder slowly took a knee, offering a hand palm-up to the lucky student, expression pressing and neutral. Behind his stern gaze came a maze of depth.  
  
_His hand..._ Nagito's eyes widened, lungs still gasping for breath.  
Over the course of their partnership, Komaeda hadn't touched Gundham _once._  
And now... Gundham was offering him _his hand...?_  
  
The lucky student hesitated - God, he didn't know why he hesitated. Was it his turn to assume this was all some kind of trick?  
But of course it wasn't a trick.  
He found himself laughing, assuming something like that.  
"...Right," he said softly. "Not here."  
  
Nagito took Gundham's hand.


	16. Singularity

They found themselves settled in Gundham's cabin shortly, still heaving out exhausted breaths and stealing glances out of the shaded windows.  
  
Gundham had resigned himself to the bed, but refused to lie down, instead probing at his injury with a focused gaze.  
  
After double checking that the knob had been fastened tight, Nagito exhaled a quiet breath, glancing over his shoulder and taking in the details of the room.  
  
It was... endearing to look at, in a curious way.  
Enclosed in a small, sturdy cage, the Four Dark Devas peered out at their master, concerned as they climbed atop one another to get a better view of his injury.  
And upon the wall was some arcane circle, likely just a decoration, but intricate all the same.  
  
After his eyes pulled away from the wall, he approached the bed slowly, hesitating beside the breeder as he rasped out a hesitant laugh.  
  
"...Hey... can I see that...?" His head tilted, hands wringing as he nodded carefully at Gundham's torn thigh.  
  
"Tch -- I shall be fine," Gundham hissed.  
  
Nagito blinked, face flinching as he hesitated. "...Uhhh…" _Shoot..._ what was he supposed to do? He'd thought stuff like this would be different now that they'd held hands...  
Speaking of which, actually...  
  
Nagito drew back, a smile cresting his face with patient ease. "Hey... you touched my hand out there. I thought only super powerful beings could do that..."  
  
"...Hmph. Typically, yes... my touch would obliterate anyone who does not match my power - the _singularity_ of this realm that parallels me... the being that can make the impossible possible, by overcoming various limitations..."  
  
Nagito crossed his arms, quirking a brow playfully. "Really? Haha! That's incredible!" A hesitance. "Does that make me the singularity, then...?"  
  
Gundham huffed. _"Tch…_ no. Don't get ahead of yourself... a simple creature like you doesn't have such devastating power..."  
  
"...Aww, man..." Nagito scratched the back of his neck, smiling apologetically. _Jeez...! So stubborn._ It was cute, he supposed. Gundham's talent of fusing endearing and fearsome without any effort at all created a tugging allure that only drew the lucky student in deeper. Holding his hand had meant more than that, he'd hoped... it had to mean something. Didn't it? He felt himself deflating like a tired balloon.  
"So... does that make us... friends?"  
  
"Wh-What-!?" Gundham sat up, covering the wound on his thigh defensively with one hand. Gundham's eye twitched, cheeks faintly darkening in color at such a ridiculous accusation. "What are you saying-!?"  
  
"Huh? You mean about us being friends?" Nagito repeated, caught off-guard by the offense the comment had caused. "Well... I mean - I'd always hoped we were friends... even if I'm just your thrall, I always considered you a buddy! Like... probably my only-"  
  
"Gah!" Gundham interrupted, raising a bandaged arm, only to clutch it, as if it had sprouted a mind of its own and was getting away from him. " _Be still, my wicked arm!_ You must be a Kotodama user!"  
  
_That word again!?_ "Koto-huh?" Nagito blinked, his hand closing around a segment of his shirt. _He's yelling..._ had Nagito messed up that terribly? It only made sense that he would. _Stupid trash. I shouldn't have said anything..._ He swallowed hard, but paused suddenly. _Wait._ _Unless - this is...  
  
_ "You wish to manipulate me with cheap tricks and false words - all because of my allowance of your presence!"  
  
...Oh. Nagito blushed, his fingertips feeling delicately at his cheeks.  
...With a raspy breath, he held up his arms apologetically. "Hey now... you're the one who took _my_ hand..." He opened his eyes again, smile managing to be calm as he wrung his hands. "I'm not here to manipulate you! Haha... I'm your thrall, right? And... I guess - even if I'm not your friend, we're here to help each other find the last student! I... don't really think _friends_ are supposed to lie to each other. Right?"  
That sounded familiar. He was familiar with the _concept_ of closeness, but his own relationships had always been shallow and fleeting.  
  
"A mere human like you would never understand," Gundham brushed off. "I'm in isolation for a reason... there will _never_ be a day when you understand how I became what I am!" The cusp of his words elongated the last syllable, and after a dramatic pause, Gundham obscured his face partially with a bandaged hand. _"I am the offspring of an angel and a devil_ \- a cursed being shunned and rejected by everything in this world!"  
  
\--Something in Nagito's heart jolted.  
_Oh._ Familiar.  
  
"Truly," Gundham raised a hand, his palm falling gracefully into a peak as his palm faced the ceiling, only to close into a tight fist. " _I am mankind's natural foe._ The walking cataclysm! The shapeless insanity! Gundham Tanaka!" No devious laugh, just an angry sneer. A mask.  
  
Nagito touched at his lips, eyes widening. He wasn't even sure why he was so shocked.  
It was just so -- terribly startled to see a _similarity_ between Gundham and himself. _  
Like me. That's..._ like Nagito.  
To detest yourself, and then play it off with some smile or fake persona. Was that what this was? _Do you think you don't deserve to have friends? Do you think... that you don't deserve to be admired? No, no, that's not you! That's...  
...Me._  
He swallowed hard, smiling easily. Emptily. A hand raised from his hip as Komaeda contemplated over its up-turned palm. "Oh, Gundham…" _Angel and a demon?_ Was he talking about some kind of trouble at home? Did his family shun him?  
Ah - he didn't really know if that was anything near true, and he would likely never be told upfront.  
"Hey... you don't have to warn me, I know. That doesn't make me want to be your friend any less, though... really! I'd... be honored to consider you my friend! Hahaha..." He hesitated. "Sure... I don't know how you became to powerful! But even if not... I like being around you! If you'll accept-" _Trash like me "-Me,_ anyway." He swallowed the deprecation. That would have soiled the entire proposal, wouldn't it?  
"And hey! I'm not asking you to be different or anything..." Maybe that was guesswork, but in a moment of fleeting connection, Nagito said what it was that _he'd_ have liked to hear. "In fact... I really like you like this! D-Does that make sense...? Heh..." His words fell apart, eyes fluttering open as his hands squeezed his arms in a suddenly reclusive posture. He felt, for a moment, like he could understand him. It had always been such a chore, such a difficult reach to _resonate_ with another person -- but that... he could understand.  
Nagito deserved to be hurt. _Gundham_ didn't.  
Because he was talented! Because he had worth!  
Nagito bit his tongue. That... wasn't it.  
_...Because he's nice. And smart, and determined, too! He's so incredible, and hopeful, and memorable. If only I...  
Could be like him?_  
Ah, jeez, what was he saying?  
  
But Gundham looked up, darkened eyes sparking with some kind of familiarity as his hand lowered from his face. "...I see..." He hesitated, both hands resting in his lap in a strange moment of vulnerability. "...It seems I completely misread you." A pause. "I never expected _a human_ like you to contain the singularity..."  
  
"--Hhuh…?" Nagito blinked, another blush leaking onto his pale cheeks. His heart throbbed in his chest. He felt so close to a confession, he felt so _close_ to something special. Perhaps not even a confession, but some genuine _connection_ that he'd yearned for his entire life. _I'm special to you? _"...Really? You think _I'm_ something amazing like that?"  
  
"...You get ahead of yourself again," Gundham warned, establishing a distance. Then, after a thoughtful second. "However... with our contract, I have bestowed upon you my powers. And I permit you to their use at any time." He raised his bandaged hand to his chest, before ceremoniously proposing it to the lucky student. "With this, the contract shall be finalized."  
  
_Contract...?_ Nagito allowed a _real_ , heartfelt smile to brush his lips, eagerly lifting his own hand, and slipping it into the other's slowly. It felt so delicate. This moment felt like the most important in his life.  
  
The handshake was... unusual. Both of their grasps were too hesitant to commit to the touch, and their eye contact, while precise, held a strange fragility.  
The handshake felt... peaceful. No magical auras. No devilish spikes in his palm. Just hesitant and genuine.  
  
Nagito smiled suddenly, laughing as he gave the hand an assertive, eager squeeze. _'Hello, hello!'_ Enough hesitating.  
  
Gundham quirked what would have been a brow, had he had any. He squeezed _back,_ competitively.  
  
_...Okay, nope. Not getting into this._ Nagito giggled boyishly, as if he were young and naïve. Back in time, before the world had bludgeoned him with hurt.  
Then, grasping onto the hand for as long as he dared, he seated himself beside the breeder, a joyful expression on his face.  
He clutched his knees, one hand raising to his face and framing his childish expression. A yearning, so silent and voiceless. The temptation to reach out and kiss his face couldn't help but thrive again. But he quieted those thoughts, savoring the moment he didn't deserve. He could simply be happy instead, for once.  
  
Gundham hesitated, before grinning back boastfully, crossing his arms. "And with that... the contract is finalized. I shan't allow you to die without my permission."  
  
"Ah, really...? I might need that..." He wet his lips. "Well... then the same for you! Let's both agree to _not die_ for a bit, alright...?"  
  
"Hhrmph?" Gundham seemed surprised by the comeback. "You have no such position of power among the universe... unless...?" He hesitated to continue.  
  
With a sudden flair of confidence, Nagito grinned, chuckling. "Who knows! I do have _the power of luck,_ don't I...?"  
  
"...Destiny manipulation... I see..." Gundham observed.  
  
_\--Ah!_ That... was - actually really cool sounding. It made his heart flutter, but Nagito was quick to put down the compliment. "...Ah, I was just kidding. Luck's more of a curse, than anything." He paused, swallowing his words momentarily before choking them back up again. "...Hey. About that." He took a deep breath, raising his hands. "...I just want to be grateful for this good luck - because... _meeting you_ must have been _really_ good luck. Does that make sense?"  
He glanced away, considering his next sentiments with care. _Opening up..._ was so foreign that it terrified him. His traumas were easy trump cards, but to talk about this one was particularly new. "...Thank you. For being interested in..." He swallowed the 'trash' label again, with a greater hesitance than before. "Someone like me."  
  
"...Tch." Gundham seemed unsure how to respond himself, but he seemed silently touched. "There is no need to give gratitude for such a thing... 'twas certainly causality that would see through to our meeting. You needn't thank me for interest that I needn't feign." He turned slightly, though, to face Komaeda completely. 'You have my attention.' An acknowledgement. 'I'm listening to you.'  
  
Komaeda hesitated. "...Hey, Gundham? I don't mean to throw away your contract already but... I have cancer."  
  
Gundham blinked. "You - _what?"  
  
_Nagito covered his tracks quickly, suddenly embarrassed by his secret. "Stage 3 malignant lymphoma... blood cancer. And frontotemporal dementia, too. Diagnosed me right before I got into Hope's Peak. Some _'powerful luck,'_ huh..." He smiled, because it was always the easy way out of feeling. "Even as I'm speaking to you... my _brain_ is deteriorating." Focusing on that idea felt so forbidden and so dangerous. So terrible, even if it was only a matter of time.  
Even if Nagito deserved it. To rot away into less and less of a human being every day.  
"My life expectancy right now is about a year to a year and a half... once I got accepted into Hope's Peak, though... it felt like all of it had balanced out. Now that my life is in it's final round, everything's become a roller coaster ride! Chasing the last student... spending time with an ultimate like you! A _friend..._ like you! Haha! This must be the good luck! The balance... the good fortune before the bad luck of my death. Does that make sense?"  
He was spilling his guts, and suddenly he couldn't stop. It wasn't a self-deprecating joke this time. It wasn't come overarching example of how luck and hope ruled the world.  
"The reason I'm even still alive... is because I believe there's hope no matter what. I always have. And... I think that this is proof of that. All my life, I've never had something as lucky as this...! A purpose - something that makes my life _mean something_ to the bringers of hope..." And suddenly his breath was gone, and he was exhausted. As if such a ramble had extinguished his energy.  
Expression darkening, he paused, wetting his lips again as his tone slipped into a sudden disconnect. _"Do you understand me now, Gundham…?"_  
  
"..." Gundham looked away momentarily, silent. "...To stand on the cross of light and darkness - bred within such tantalizing, treacherous parallels...! Forbidden from this world by such a cruel destiny... indeed. Destined to battle a place between heaven and hell, and condemned to an eternal loneliness over such an unholy summoning. I understand you, _Komaeda._ " He said no more.  
  
He said no more, but Nagito recognized a parallel in his summary. He clutched his heart again. _...Like him. Like him..._ His lip tremored, before he shook the clouding emotions away.  
"You and I... are a lot alike," he dared to address. "That's why you understand my feelings... I see that now - after what you told me just a few moments ago. When I die... I used to have no one to inherit my soul. I have no siblings, no relatives, no parents... not even friends or acquaintances. Because of my self-righteous thoughts, everyone distanced themselves from me. That was why I was so willing to give you my soul! I didn't mind... no one wanted it." He clasped his hands, raising them in thanking, serving posture. "Now, though... I'm really glad you're going to have it when I die. I was fine with loneliness while I was still healthy... but it's - quite lonely to die all by myself. Now that I'm on the verge of death, I've realized what I've wanted all along." He smiled tragically, his own misery worming into his heart and flooding his fleeting soul with self-mourning.  
He couldn't help but be sorry for himself. "...Somebody's love."  
Nagito swallowed hard, before allowing a feigned smile to blossom fourth. "Haha... hahaha!" _'This is me!'_ That's it! No mystery, no games, no hiding around. His fleeting games unfolded into nothing more than unfortunate happenings and unreachable desires.  
He waited, biting his lip with bated breath.  
...After all, this was a riddle. A test in itself. Gundham had had so many tests for him, it was time to see what he'd do when Nagito tugged the rug from under his truths and closed the door to his mind with a lie. And he would do it as soon as the other made the right move.  
_'I made all of that up!'_ The easiest way to repulse someone. To twist a blade of trust. _Do you really care? Enough to insist on caring even after that?_  
Or would such a 'lie' - which was truly no lie at all - disgust a person enough to withdraw completely? This would be doing him a favor - to chase him away would be a favor just as much as a test.  
He prepared, tying a bow on his confession. "...So thank you, Gundham. For being my good luck...! For being... part of my hope."  
  
...Gundham shook his head, lifting a hand to silence him. "...Komaeda…" he assured softly, voice so delicate that Nagito hardly recognized it. "Think not so much of death. After all... I've already told you. You _shan't_ die while I exist here. I forbid it."  
This wasn't the same as his usual dismissals. This was something intimate. Every word that slipped off his tongue pierced into Nagito's heart with emphasis.  
" _Do you understand...?_ If this is destiny, than Causality's will is not ours to decide - but ours to challenge. Whether your existence here is fleeting or not, you haven't my permission. You shall live on, I insist upon it. And even if not," his voice grew haughty again. "Pshh… I shall cherish your memory until the maws of hell open again, and I shall drag you out myself. Hmm? Do you consider yourself alone? For you shan't be - the contract has been made, and you cannot escape it now."  
  
…  
Now it was time to twist the knife. To laugh in his face. _'You fell for such a thoughtless lie?_ ' But there was no lie.  
Nagito's insides churned as he stared at his lap, hugging himself. He squeezed his eyes shut to stomach some welling emotion. "...Gundham…" he murmured.  
He swallowed hard, staring at his destructive, terrible hands. Where were his ugly words on his silver tongue? To test Gundham? To shove him away and throw him into a whirlwind of mind games.  
  
His breath faltered, and those same terrible hands reached out, grasping onto Gundham and pulling him into a tight, desperate hug.  
He fumbled out some depressing word, some fusion between 'thank you' and 'sorry.'  
And he'd started shaking.  
  
He felt Gundham stiffening in his arms, seemingly shell-shocked at the sudden gesture.  
  
And after minutes that felt like hours, Gundham's hesitant touch felt back, hands resting along Nagito's back. _Holding_ him. Touching his miserable, worthless body.  
  
And Nagito knew he should have let go, but he couldn't yet. A moment to indulge in the bitter platter of greed. To be held. To be coddled at least once in his life before he lost his mind and his life in one foul swoop.  
"...Thank you," he murmured again, voice small. "...I'm sorry - thank you... I'll get a hang of myself in a minute." He cleared his throat. "...Thank you for being - _my friend_."  
  
...And after a moment or two, the answer.  
"... _Certainly._ "  
  
Nagito's eyes squeezed shut, and he could barely breathe.  
And perhaps, if he were more in tune with himself, he would have cried, too.


	17. Loose Ends

And after their moment of connection, they created a brief distance from one another, as if ashamed of themselves, or perhaps shy of one another.  
Nagito felt at his face with his fingers, hugging his knees to his chest as he thought over their last interaction. _Oh, oh..._ he felt light.  
Finally, breathing in a soft breath, he managed to look over and analyze Gundham's injury again.  
  
Gundham had been tending to it, pressing a hand to his thigh as he pulled at remaining fragments of debris through the tattered threads of his torn pants.  
  
"...Hey," Nagito checked in. "...Can't I have a look at that? Might be worth discussing, too... you having an injury might be a bit of a giveaway, huh..." He sounded perhaps more insensitive than he would have liked.  
  
And yet, Gundham hardly seemed phased by it. "Mmph - I am fine... remember my supreme _prowess!_ It is only fitting that this body should recover without the need for aid..." He huffed softly, glancing up as his head tilted. "As for your statement... I shall merely cast an invisibility spell-! A simply barrier shall conceal any physical markings to all eyes that do not possess arcane enhancements."  
  
Nagito frowned, wetting his lips as he hesitated. "...Hey - I just wondered if instead of walking around outside... tomorrow d'ya think I could come over and talk about our next move? Just so you have time to cast your spell," he took care to play along to Gundham's persona, "and so that we have somewhere where... we can be more aware of who's listening."  
Nagito's real reasoning was an excuse to keep Gundham's injury hidden away, as well as giving it a day to recover and heal before going outside again. "Maybe just for a while... being in here too long would be another giveaway, huh... But still, do you think it might be a good idea to meet here before anything else?"  
  
"...Fine," Gundham tsk'd, "until I find it fitting to rise and traverse these mystic isles once more."  
  
"...Right," Nagito gave a soft, relieved sigh. "Now then...! Mind if I take a look at that injury? I know you're a dark lord and all... but I guess I just want to be sure - you know... to pick any remaining splinters out of your veins! To make that barrier spell a whole lot easier..." He tempted him with what he knew was somewhat bogus, shrugging off his own shoes and beginning to peer on hands and knees down at the tear in Tanaka's thigh.  
His anxious hands sunk into the mattress as his head cocked back and forth like an inquiring owl, before his wide eyes rocked upward for Gundham's approving nod.  
  
"...Tch, fine, if it shall silence your squabblings…" Gundham hesitated, not moving or attempting to make Komaeda’s search any easier. Gradually, he turned _slightly_ in his direction, resting a hand carefully beside the injury, ready to spring into action should it need to.  
  
Ah, Nagito couldn't take it personally. _He's just being careful..._ He rubbed his hands together, picking carefully at the rim of the fabric's tear. _Wonder where he learned to be so cautious._ What tragedies shaped someone like him? But perhaps his thoughts were growing too bold, and they softened instead into a doting longing to heal him.  
Then his breath sucked in and held there. "...I - well," he hesitated, lifting his hand again and wiping it carefully on his jeans. "I can't really see it... I'd be able to work better if you... ah." He cleared his throat. "Took off your pants."  
  
"No," Gundham stated.  
  
… _No?_ His heart sank. "Huh? No? I don't really know how much I can do if you don't..."  
  
"You needn't do a thing... I shall recover well on my own," Gundham insisted.  
  
Nagito paused, scratching the back of his neck. _Well..._ there was really no way Gundham would effectively treat himself, was there? The injury was out of his reach and his vision. Any attempt at binding would be sloppy.  
Komaeda waved a dismissing hand. "--Right, sorry. I'll just see what I can do..."  
_Does he even have a disinfectant in here...?_ Nagito would have made a stop by the nurse's office if they hadn't been in such a hurry.  
Taking apart the room, he managed to scrounge up a bandage or two from Gundham's collection.  
Then the luckster seated himself again, grimacing as he closely surveyed the state of the wound.  
  
Still leaking thick coats of blood, the wound seemed deep. It was puckered like a pair of lips, crusted around the edges with drying plates of magenta.  
Nagito winced as he saw it, fingering around in his coat pockets and retrieving a bottle of rubbing alcohol.  
Off Gundham's questioning look -- "I was considering making a Molotov just in case Usami caught us," Nagito said hurriedly. "But now we can just consider this a _stroke_ of good luck. Now that we have it, may as well leave it nearby..." Rising from the bed, he moved to the end table, sliding the bottle onto Gundham's end table and pressing a pile of bandages beside them.  
  
_He'll probably only use that when I leave, huh..._ That made him hesitate. _Will he not use it at all?_ He rubbed his hands together, eyeing the intricate bandaging on Gundham's arm.  
_He's prideful... but he'd not stupid.  
  
_Sighing, Komaeda rested a hand on the door knob. "Hey," he lifted his head slightly, "before I go and leave you to your arcane doings... maybe we should meet here _every_ morning. Do you think that's a good idea? We have to be faster now... and a lot more careful. I think it might only be a matter of time before they find us out. So... we have to find them out first." He wrung his hands. "...I think... with your power, and my luck... we can do it!"  
  
...Gundham met his gaze, fastening tightly without words. Then, simply, he nodded.  
  
And, after a mild hesitation, Nagito opened the door and ghosted the doorway.  
"...Hey," he added quietly. "...Thank you. You know... for talking to me." He felt a heat rising in his cheeks, eyes shining dimly off the silver shine of the moon. "...And listening to me! I think... I'm happy. To finally have a friend."  
  
"...Certainty," Gundham decided, eyes flicking away to scan Nagito's medical assortments on the end table.  
  
"...Let's talk some more like that sometime. You know... if it isn't too much trouble," Nagito added.  
  
"Hmph. If such a thing occurs, I hold no opposition," Gundham stated matter-of-factly.  
  
"...Ah, good." His hand clasped the knob tightly, fingers closing over themselves as he stifled a breath.  
Was now... a good time to say it?  
_...No._ Gundham was injured and tired.  
Komaeda's feelings didn't matter at a time like this.  
His heart fluttered with a butterfly's wings up to his throat as his words ran dry.  
And his mouth wired shut.  
With yet another tragic smile, his expression peaked, and he lifted a hand to wave.  
Squeezing the bleached fabric of his shirt in a cold, sickly hand, he pulled the door closed.  
  
And yet, the moment a barrier stood between them, Nagito yearned for nothing more than to open it again, and bask in the company of another human being.  
The lucky student stood in the dim light of the dock, shadow illuminated with looming deception over the stretches of the docks. Bigger and braver than he was. Encapsulating his darkness.  
  
_...Ah._ Tomorrow was another day.  
Perhaps he'd have his words sorted out then. Did he dare say it? Tomorrow?  
Could he bring those fated words to his lips?  
  
_I'm in love... with the hope that sleeps inside you._  
He shook his head, rubbing his hands together as his footsteps started off for his room.  
 _I'm in love... with_ you and your hope.  
And you... could you ever love someone like me?  
If he could let himself be naïve enough, then perhaps for a moment he could believe it.


	18. Desert of Glass

Gundham needed time to rest, so Nagito didn't go to his door in the earliest hours of the morning. Breakfast was fast approaching, yet the Luckster hadn't even taken a peek outside his window.  
A quick scrounge around the island had rewarded him with replacement parts. He hadn't lied the previous night when he'd insisted that they had to move _faster._

And so Nagito worked quickly on his secret project, resting his Student ID carefully on the ground beside the busted, monochrome head of the robotic bear.  
He'd tried reviving the life within it a plethora of times, and nothing had yielded that nails-on-chalkboard cheer, nor that squeaky, grating voice. Stillness, silence. Nothing.

Nagito cleared his throat, sitting back got a moment to test the length of an extension cord with tampered endings. It was easy enough to wedge one end into his student handbook, but seeking a port in the robotic head was another issue in itself.  
The entire process had consisted of a great deal of tinkering, prodding, experimenting... though, as Nagito finally clipped the other end of the cord into an open slot, none of it had been wasted.

Clearing his throat, Nagito stood back into a crouch and marveled at the mechanical whirring that sparked to life at the moment of connection.  
The operation was simple. If it couldn't awaken the head, he could harvest its knowings and gorge them himself. _Right?  
_The thought flashed across his mind. What if all of this had been for nothing?  
What if, after all this pining, the drive carried nothing of importance.  
… _What awful luck._ And that would just contribute to the ever-flowing cycle. He had no reason to mourn a down when it would bring an up. Right?

A malevolent smile spread across his lips as the screen of his student handbook lit up, the screen dancing with white, sterile light.  
A soft chugging sounded, sputtering out noises like a troubled printer as a loading screen spiraled in endless loops.

Seconds grew into hours in the void of his mind, each heartbeat gaining traction on the last. Nagito's hands wrung, wetting his lips as he chuffed out a disheveled breath. _Come on.  
Please.  
Please...!_

How impressive would he be, carrying a plate of breakfast in one hand, and a tablet containing this 'Heart-Throbbing School Trip's darkest secrets? Would they be able to punch a hole in the invisible wall, and peer through at the anxiously hiding truth?

Useful. Oh, how Nagito yearned to be useful. Aiding hope, which took its form in Gundham.

And all at once, the screen cut to darkness.  
Nagito's heart stopped. _...Did it not work?  
_He forgot how to breathe.

Then, blossoming like a flower's pluming petals, the screen awoke again, listing a variety of documents with jumbled, nonsensical titles.

The extraction was a success.

Exhaling a giggle of excitement, Nagito scooped up the student handbook, looming over its secrets with hungering, parted lips. With a quick look, he could discern that each file had appeared as a document of text. _Text?_ He guessed it made sense, somehow...

-Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a crimson, sizzling light.  
As Komaeda's eyes darted left to catch the beacon, the Monokuma head's eye had already died out again.  
... _Guess I'm just making things up._ Unless some final form of sentience still dwelled within the crushed remains.  
Another twist tugged at his lips. _Did you give this to me...?_

He had to wonder how such rich texts had so easily been wormed into his hands, but he was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Lifting the tablet into his view, the first document opened itself.

The sight couldn't have been any more disappointing.  
Flashing onscreen, a picture of a cartoon woman with pink-tinted hair and a cream-colored kitten dominated Nagito's view. Across the top, the title appeared:  
_Manga for Morons! The History of Hope's Peak Academy._

...Nagito grimaced. _Huh...? What the hell...?_ He chuffed out an awkward laugh.  
A _manga?_

His smile strained, but failed to falter as he flipped to the next document.  
  
A suited man with a gun aimed outward stood in front of a carmine-tinted building. Another manga cover.  
_Manga for Morons! The Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy._

_The tragedy...?_ Nagito wet his lips again, pupils shaking slightly as his eyes darted to the side. _...I should be reading these._

Yet another one.  
_Manga for Morons! The Biggest, Most Tragic, Most Awful Event in Human History._

Nagito's lungs halted, chewing on his lip. And without a second thought, he began fluttering through the pages of each and every document. Each manga. Each extraneous line of text.  
Any and every detail he could fathom he drank up. Every file, ones unmarked and undecorated. Lists of information.

Lost in the desert, he drank the poisoned oasis of hidden truth. The truth that clogged his throat and drowned him.

-All at once he dropped the tablet, the screen shattering into spiderweb fractures as it collided with the ground.

Komaeda sucked in a breath, struggling to exhale.  
Fingers in his mouth, he started to chew anxiously at the tips of his nails. Gnawing away as his thoughts danced with uncertainty.

Was it true?  
Was it true?  
 _Was it true?_

His stomach dropped, somersaulting into the pit of destruction that gave wake to the apocalypse.  
His thoughts connected and broke off, puzzle pieces that didn't fit.  
Nagito dared not move, knowing one fateful twitch would plunge him beyond recognition.

His last holds on sanity as his body began quivering.

His hands shooting to his head, he began tugging, _yanking_ at his strands of hair, a guttural, terrible cry. To turn himself inside out and back again.

He needed a moment, sitting forward and melting to the floor into a miserable, subservient puddle. As if praying to the alter of his own fate.

A moment. To stop and sort himself out.  
To _prove it_ to himself. He had to make certain it was true, first. But it was already too late for reconditioning.

Then, with the scraps he'd collected, he could begin.  
He struck a mental line through his previous plans. His connections and promises to Gundham. His determination to _solve_ the predicament they were in.  
  
His body shook, unable to control itself. Quaking with livid leeches that ate at his soul and caused his nerves to squirm up and down.  
And from his mouth came a wracking laugh. One that spilled cobwebs and flies onto the floor and turned his world upside down.

_Was it true?  
_He didn't want to believe it, but every detail clicked into place with a startling amount of accuracy.  
_About... **despair?**_

And just like that, his reality fragmented.  
Nagito fell apart.


	19. The Last Straw

Komaeda was already collecting things, shoving and storing trinkets of dismay with his trembling hands as he ran over the intricacies in his head.  
However, every aspect of his idea fell flat should the information have proven false. Those mangas, the _Future Foundation_ documents - every word that slipped through the chasm of an hourglass with each second. He had to act _now._  
  
Each time the thought occurred to it, Nagito chose not to focus too closely, or perhaps he'd break out into a laugh or double over with writhing, tingling limbs. Ugly. Disgusting.  
This whole world was _ugly_ and _disgusting,_ and covered in _ugly_ people. And it was his job to stop it.  
  
Keeping his vital, dangerous creations _close and concealed,_ Nagito had one final test. He cleared his throat, forcing a cunning smile as he stepped into the doors of the familiar diner.  
There, countless people were stuffing their faces with _that miserable dog Teruteru's_ cooking.  
  
He could barely even look at them knowing what he knew. He could barely bring himself to speak to them.  
Not that he was any better - somehow despite all he'd uncovered, _Nagito Komaeda_ was the most disgusting person in the room. But at the very least he could redeem himself in a final firework of glory, sprouting the wings of a god as he rained the wrath of karma upon them.  
_Very, very soon.  
_First, still the most important step, he had to find out if he was right.  
And then, the phase of _cutting them off.  
_Then the culling could begin. Three fatal steps, and he could see an end to their miserable wastes of life.  
And his own, too. He could go last, worse than all of them. Nagito would make it bloody.  
  
His dulled eyes danced quickly over the seated ultimates, smile withering into the scowl it hid.  
Once his irises locked on _'Byakuya Togami,'_ stuffing himself in the corner with far too much food - _disgusting slob -_ a grin cracked the rim of Nagito's lips, and he raised a dainty, deadly hand to point him out.  
"Hey, Togami...!" His mocking voice called from the door, the lucky student breathing out a cold, malicious laugh. "...Or - sorry... do you respond to _Ultimate Imposter?_ "  
  
Everyone looked up, training their eyes on the interloper at the door, but Komaeda's state was focused entirely on Togami.  
And that's when Nagito saw exactly what he was looking for.  
_The flinch._  
The lucky student sneered. _Liar!_  
  
And with that truth confirmed, the rest clicked into place.  
_So... I saw the truth._ He almost chortled with laughter.  
  
Byakuya shook his head curtly, rising gradually from his seat. "What are you talking about? Don't bring up this childish nonsense during my meal. You skinny-types always--"  
  
"Oh? What," Nagito cut off the poor excuse for an ultimate flatly, lifting a hand from his side and staring at the palm. "Are we not going to talk about the _real_ Byakuya Togami? Heh-! The Ultimate Affluent Prodigy... I'm sure he accomplished a whole lot more than you ever will. Sneaking around, pretending to be other people...! Creative... for someone like you, I guess." He snorted, wiping off his hands on his coat. "So sure, go ahead. Keep lying to your so-called friends about who you are. Who are you hiding from now? What - are you _scared_ of someone? So you have to resort to _pretending_ to be people more talented than you?"  
  
_'Byakuya'_ blinked, pushing up his glasses and taking a quick gander around. "Where did - what are you _talking_ about? Are you addressing me with some conspiracy theory?"  
  
"Oh, sure... that, and I managed to catch a glimpse of the class roster. But you're free to keep saying _whatever_ you like. With a crowd like this... you might even manage to be convincing." That was all the confirmation he needed, but as a free reward to his abhorrent behavior, Komaeda was on his way to get more.  
Dipping his head before any more comments could be directed his way, Nagito gave a smug grin, raising a hand to wave off his unbeloved ultimates.  
"Ah - see you...! Oh - and by the way... feel free to bring _Gundham_ some breakfast. He injured himself after blowing a hole in that castle yesterday."  
  
Without waiting for anyone, he ducked out of the dining area, stealing down the stairs and slipping his hands into his pockets. Slowly, the lucky student pat himself up and down, making sure every key component in his second step was in place.  
Good. Every detonator, every explosive, each and every cause for harm... all intact.  
  
It was a shame _he_ was the one that had to do it, but he'd have to end his ceremony of killing with a grand, awful finale, right? It was only fitting to save the most _repulsive_ human there for last.  
  
Chuffing out a starved, unhealthy laugh, he was off to his first destination: _Usami's house._  
And who knew what delectable secrets awaited him there?  
Likely nothing he didn't already know.  
  
After all, this was a masquerade of misery, and only one person could survive.  
\--And to make that happen, someone had to _go_ in her place.  
He could sculpt a catalyst if he had to. While his plans were concrete, the whims of the outsider among the cast could be taken into consideration.  
Chiaki Nanami... was worth sparing.  
But even then, it seemed like a wasted effort - because Nagito knew layer and layer deeper than any of them, perhaps as much as Chiaki herself.  
_She isn't real, anyway._  
  
There was no one to lose.  
  
Nagito knocked lightly on the front of Usami's door, but truly, it didn't matter if she answered.  
  
_Hey, Ms. Usami? You home?_  
  
All his other contraptions had been put into place before he'd left for the diner. This was the final destination to make his applications.  
  
Then, to step back from it all, he could marvel as ripples of dismay and delight would slither through his skin.  
  
The curtain call was about to begin. _Actors, please! Take your place on the stage!_  
  
And bow out for the finale.

***

Gundham had been tending to his wounds within the safety and privacy of his room.  
His devas remained hidden from view. The breeder had to make an active effort to find them huddled beneath the bed. _For what reason are they hiding...?_  
The uncertainty of their fear made Gundham rush the process slightly, peeking quickly at the injury and binding it with a startling brevity before making a stand to look out the window.  
Not a soul stood outside, which made sense, he supposed. They were likely having their first meal...  
  
However, checking beneath the bed again at his frightened devas, he remained on edge.  
"What is it, my devas...?" He tempted softly. "Does the atmosphere trouble you?"  
He _could_ almost feel something amiss... a difference in the air. Earth placing its pressures upon them. Something was amiss.  
It made him restless.  
  
Beginning to dress with an equal amount of haste, his question was soon answered as the world itself started to shake, as if losing its footing on itself.  
Uprooted from the ground, Gundham managed to tumble awkwardly onto his bed, glaring up at the window accusatorily.  
  
He shifted, pressing a hand to the injury that had stolen his grace, and braced as the shaking continued, growing more and more violent with each echoing _kaboom._  
  
Explosion after explosion - like that which he'd seen only a night before at Nezumi castle.  
  
But there were countless now - all around them.  
  
Until, all at once, the world fell into a deathly hush.  
An _eerie_ hush.  
  
The Devas stayed hidden as Gundham stood, unsatisfied with remaining cooped inside his room as the _inevitable doomsday_ had finally forsaken them. _Is this 'his' doing!? The powerful hunter of legend that resembles the Jabberwock?_  
  
But no - his intuition told him no.  
This was no jabberwock, nor was it 'his' doing.  
  
A sour gland of sweat formed where there might have been a brow.  
  
Something in their plan had gone _terribly_ wrong.


	20. Dying Star

Gundham was not fit for walking, but a certain degree of stubbornness and a dash of pride were enough to get him through the doors of his cabin.  
Eyes switching back and forth, Gundham quickly drew his wine-colored scarf around his neck, taking a precautious gander around before ducking through his door one final time for his jacket.  
With every item of wear in place, he could at least _appear_ uninjured - so long as he could hold up the part.  
Stealing away out of the hotel gates, it took a brief amount of strenuous searching to decode the cause of the commotion.  
  
Gundham's peers streamed from the diner, wide-eyed and seemingly as clueless as he was.  
A few of them made for the same gate Gundham was leaving through, pushing open the metallic doorways and flooding out onto the sidewalk.  
All his fourteen others - sans one.  
_Komaeda's missing.  
  
_The first student to make it out of the gate stopped dead, eyes turning suddenly on the breeder who had already began his trudge for the bridge.  
Unfortunately: Kazuichi Souda.  
The miserable mechanic approached, much to Gundham's dismay.  
"-Hey, Gundham!" The mechanic exclaimed, reaching out a hand to grasp the other's shoulder.  
  
-Gundham abruptly pulled away. "What?" He uttered coldly.  
  
"Where were you this morning!? You must'a done something, huh!" Already pointing an accusing finger, the boy continued. "Nagito came in to the diner this morning talking a bunch of bologna, n' then he mentioned _you_ blowing up some castle! And now look!" Souda jabbed his thumb at a distant plume of smoke - or, rather, _plumes_ of smoke.  
  
Each rising cloud flooded the sky, marking what looked to be two or three separate explosions.  
  
"...Komaeda said that?" He practiced brevity, shooting a glare back at Kazuichi's ill-informed accusations.  
  
"Yeah! Said you got injured, too! That why you're limping around everywhere?" Souda leaned down slightly, as if trying to catch sight of the fabled injury himself.  
  
Quickly attempting to hide his limp, Gundham kept moving, an angry flush rising to his face. _Miserable worm..._ Komaeda's betrayal was sudden. He had to admit he hadn't seen it coming when he certainly should have.  
Was it not only inevitable for something that speaks to betray you? He was a human being after all. Allow them into your weakness, and those same secrets would unravel in the mouths of those without any hand in the situation.  
Somehow, though... it was difficult to write off the gestures entirely. _Komaeda was loyal to his cause, was he not?_ Or was he that prone to turning that he had turned on himself, too?  
Gundham had to find him. Something undoubtedly _dreadful_ had happened.  
  
"Hey!" Souda whined, following the breeder as he moved away. "You didn't answer anything! What's up with you guys!?"  
  
Gundham stopped briefly, staring daggers back at the mechanic. He opened his mouth to spit back another edged warning when another voice spoke first.  
  
"Hey, Gundham." The soft-spoken girl had been loitering by the gates. Chiaki stepped forward, a slight frown tugging at her lips as her vulnerable eyes widened at the two of them.  
  
_The spy,_ Gundham registered. Quirking a brow, he nodded. "Yes?" He would allow her a word.  
  
"...Do you know what happened to Nagito…?" She inquired, squeezing her game console tightly in her hands, gaze locking with his. "...I think I know what he destroyed. Can I show you?"  
  
Gundham blinked, eyes narrowing at the other's question.  
  
"Huh? You know what happened?" Kazuichi interrupted.  
  
"Hmph. I'm certain you're aware that the all-seeing eye has revealed the origin of your intentions..." Gundham countered, chin lifting slightly. "In such a case... how am I to regard your words as truths?"  
  
Chiaki paused, puffing up her cheeks. Then she nodded. "...There's not much time," she admitted slowly. "I have to show you something... and tell you something, too. You don't have to believe me... but if you trust me for a second..." She, too, seemed to ignore Souda.  
  
"Huh? Neither of you are makin' any sense!" Souda commented, raising a fist.  
  
"Tch - this speak has no place for ill-mannered commoners," Gundham sassed briefly, before returning his attention to the gamer. "...Fine. Should you betray me... the maws of hell should tear open and devour you. I'm certain you know the price of treason well enough?"  
  
"...Mmm..." Chiaki tapped her cheek, before nodding quickly. "Yep. Got it."  
  
"...Fine. Then lead me there at once, sinner..." Gundham quickly tugged at his sleeves, crossing his arms expectantly.  
  
"Treason? What do you mean, treason!?" Souda leaned forward, still attempting to wedge himself into the know.  
  
"...I'm sorry," Chiaki started. "But Kazuichi… could you just be quiet?" And without waiting for an answer, she turned, walking briskly down the sidewalk. "Come on, Gundham."  
  
Gundham didn't need to be told twice. Without even a second glance to Souda, the breeder jerked up his silken scarf and followed suit.  
  
The trek was brief, as Nanami seemed to effortlessly navigate the islands. It seemed she knew exactly what had occurred.  
Diverting first to the fourth island, Chiaki lead Gundham to the rubble of Nezumi Castle.  
  
He recognized its destruction from the night before, but what had once been a great chasm within one of the walls suffered greater damage now.  
Each wall had been caved in. Any structure that had remained intact held a depressive, defeated aura to it. The slain castle was a mess of rubble and nothing more.  
The inscription of the ruins' password was gone under a mountain of rocks and dust.  
  
Gundham didn't comment, he merely dipped his head to acknowledge the sight. _Komaeda did this?_ "What now?"  
  
"...Over here," she said slowly, though didn't move. She swallowed hard, squeezing the fabric of her sleeves as her head lifted up, staring off into an unclear unknown. Contemplative, perhaps.  
  
Gundham stood by patiently, deciding against any comments towards her apparent hesitance.  
  
Then, without prompting, she started forward again, following another winding path that brought Gundham to a home - or what used to be a home.  
  
Lying in fiery shreds were planks of wood, plaster, shattered glass.  
The broken remains of what had once been Usami's home.  
Stray strands of fluff still littered some parts of the floor.  
Wafting its last tendrils of smoke, the home's ruins held an eerie stillness to them.  
  
"...Does she thrive still?" Gundham asked, emotion clear of his voice as he eyed the planks.  
  
"..." Chiaki paused, shaking her head. "There were only seven copies... and they were all inside there."  
  
_Usami is dead,_ Gundham acknowledged. _...No more monarchy.  
_Or for that matter, _authority._ This meant no more rules, no more forced civil living, no more barriers.  
_He can't be stopped._ Was that supposed to be a 'we?' Was this still some grand conclusion to _their_ plan of success?  
  
"And you were her accomplice?" Gundham turned his head to get a glimpse of the turncoat herself.  
  
"...She was my friend," Chiaki answered, a strange emptiness to her eyes becoming suddenly apparent. The heaviness of her voice was new, and somehow still similar to itself. Emotion without soul.  
Or perhaps a soul without emotion?  
Gundham chose not to think about it.  
  
"And what else?" Gundham asked. "Is there not more?"  
  
"The ruins..." Chiaki turned, grasping the straps of her cat-shaped backpack. "He blew those up, too..."  
  
"Hmph. And are you certain of his location?" Gundham interrogated.  
  
"...Nope. After that, he got rid of most of the cameras... I don't know where he is now..." She reached up, gingerly tugging a cat-eared hood over her head. "...I know you two were friends."  
  
"Humph," Gundham scoffed.  
  
"...I'm going to keep looking for him - and... if you do that, too... then good luck. Okay?" She raised a finger, her pink eyes meeting his once more.  
  
Never once had she alluded to his reasoning - perhaps that was out of her knowings, too. The entire situation felt just outside his grasp. He merely nodded, before peeling away from her and starting off for the bridge again.  
The limp grew harder and harder to mask.  
  
He needn't look at the ruins himself, he believed Chiaki enough.  
However, that begged the question. _Where is Komaeda?_  
  
Gundham's first guess would have been the ruins, had they not been in apparent shambles.  
The second location he checked took another tiresome trek back to their cabins. Peering briefly through the windows revealed no movement.  
Yet another empty room.  
  
Stepping back, Gundham strode briskly along the walk way, peering briefly into each window with disinterest. Hmph.  
_Komaeda is a strange creature._ He would likely choose his hiding place carefully, correct?  
  
It would not be likely to be any place in the open if he did not want to be found. _Do any more forbidden places remain?_ It was almost as though he'd eliminated them all.  
Then, stopping in the center of the two bridges, Gundham's eyes surveyed the hotel.  
And beside it, the old building.  
The breeder paused, one eye squinting as the other opened wider.  
  
_That building..._ he remembered it. He and Komaeda had considered it as an area of interest for a short while, since Usami had been so insistent on them keeping outside.  
  
'It's too dusty and dangerous in there!' The rabbit teacher would proclaim frantically. 'No one is allowed inside until it's all fixed up!'  
  
After peering through the windows, it had appeared to be a fruitless effort, barren of secrets. _...Does that remain true now?  
  
_There was no Usami to keep him out now, was there?  
  
The breeder dusted off his coat, striding elegantly for the door and reaching for the knob. He squeezed the handle, pausing for a gradual moment as his wrist turned.  
The door obliged with a satisfying _click,_ and pushed open at his command.  
  
Wordlessly, Gundham closed the door behind him. With a quick look inside his scarf, Gundham ensured that his Devas were well.  
And with that, he began a slow, ceremonious trek across the creaking floorboards.  
  
Usami had been no liar when she'd complained about dust in the old building. Specks of it covered every wall, puffing up from the floor with each step he took.  
Glancing down, Gundham noticed a twin pair of footprints, scuttling off into the darker recesses of the foundation.  
He trailed the phantom tracks carefully, proceeding cautiously.  
_Who knows what devils make home in this darkness..._  
  
The trail grew harder to discern at times, but it was never impossible to decipher. That is, until the prints disappeared suddenly inside one of the storage rooms.  
  
Where the footprints stopped, a square-shaped doorway manifested in the ground. A cellar.  
_A devious dungeon..._ Gundham registered, crouching down carefully as not to agitate his wound. Reaching out a hand, he pulled the wooden flooring up, unveiling the chasm that lay beneath.  
  
He stifled a cough with the back of his hand, closing his eyes to keep the dust from them. Once they opened again, the gaped maw of the ground beckoned him.  
  
He did not hesitate. Throwing caution to the wind, the breeder rose again, venturing below the floorboards.  
Each step caused a soft creaking sound to tear through the overbearing silence. Gundham held his breath.  
  
Reaching the bottom of the stairwell, he grasped the railing, lifting his gaze to the labyrinth below.  
  
There was no complex maze to speak of. While shrouded almost entirely in darkness, a small, messy array of artificial lights formed a circle around a figure in the dark.  
  
The person looked up from their kneeling position, seemingly startled behind their eyes of glass. After a moment, their surprise twisted with startling agility into a terrible, spiteful expression, twinged with a drowned reluctance.  
The face of Nagito Komaeda.  
  
"Gundham." Like he'd been expecting him.  
  
"Nagito." Gundham returned the feeling.  
  
An inevitable meeting.


	21. I Am A Monster

Nagito thought bombs would be a bore - but there was a reason arson was such an effective method of execution. To kill so many people in so little time...  
His plan needn't be so elaborate, but perhaps it was elaborate enough.  
  
His student handbook remained closely on his lap, and his eyes continued to scan the details over, branding them into his mind.  
  
Every reread grated more and more at his soul, until he no longer felt any trace of remorse.  
As if there'd ever been any since he read those fateful words.  
  
With no Usami to monitor their loyalty to the law, lanterns were easy to come by in the supermarket. The cameras were easy enough to detach from the walls.  
A monitor was easy enough to steal and make his own.  
  
And there, stealing away into the old building, he'd started recording his first video. The lie.  
Oh, how Nagito hated to lie, but he could play with words until mistruths were wrung from his words like filth from water.  
  
Part of him knew Gundham was coming, which was why he waited until the creaking footsteps upstairs began to sound before tugging his monitor over again.  
Nagito would hate for someone to interrupt their conversation. For a moment, he worried that Gundham had brought company.  
  
_But he won't._ Gundham didn't work with other people, he knew that. No, he'd be coming alone.  
  
The video was a brief one, but perhaps startling enough to draw everyone's attention away.  
A face staring through the darkness, lit eerily by the lantern light as a smile tugged on his face.  
_'Hello, ultimates.'_ As if any of them deserved to have that title. Disgusting, disgusting. They made him sick. _'I think this is the start of a wonderful game. Are you ready to play? Because -- unless you want more bombs to go off before you even start playing -- I'd advise that you do.'  
_There was no lie. The bombs would still go off, obviously... once they completed his wild goose chase and wound up at the restaurant, where his trap was waiting for them. A fire in a room slowly flooding with gas from another stove... _sounds dangerous!_ In the same building where a certain lucky student had already worked his hardest to dismantle every sprinkler head.  
Now, at the smell of the gas, they'd likely turn back. That was why it was _the opening of the door_ that triggered the start of the fire. It was a relatively easy set-up.  
If that blast wasn't enough to kill them, it would almost be more entertaining. While Nagito valued efficiency, he had no qualms with watching despairs _squirm._ He had plan atop plan. Luck was a factor, sure, but his fixation would always remain on hope.  
Yearning, pleading, praying that it would all end soon, so he could take his own miserable life instantaneously.  
  
As Gundham approached, Nagito sent his video message out with a simple tampering of the monitor. Then, slowly, he glanced over his shoulder.  
It was just the two of them now.  
"Gundham," he acknowledged.  
  
"Nagito," the intruder returned.  
  
Then silence fell over them momentarily.  
  
Komaeda was a meticulous planner as he was a spontaneous one. He had convinced himself he didn't care whether or not Gundham found him, fixated more with the _inevitability_ of it happening. But now...  
He wasn't certain what to do.  
  
The lucky student rose, height capping in the same place as Gundham's. He rubbed his hands together, wetting his lips as he broke out in a starved chuckle. "Oh... you found me," he allowed, scoffing. "Must feel pretty accomplished...! You took a bit long for an _ultimate_ student, though..." He drew a step nearer.  
  
Gundham didn't flinch.  
  
"Well, well... you found me. Sure you must be wondering why I blew all those buildings up, huh? Why I killed Usami… do you still think this is about our plan...?" He was curious, genuinely.  
  
"...No." Gundham answered briefly, precisely. So intelligent, even now.  
Such oozing intelligence, that so many people wrote off due to his unusual wording and beliefs.  
Nagito grimaced as he found himself admiring it still.  
  
"...You're right. You see... all you ultimates - are so _slow._ I managed to solve the entire thing on my own... and - haha..." He hesitated, glancing down as he clutched his shirt. "That's saying a lot. I mean, I'm no worthy contender either. In fact... I'd go so far as to call myself the worst of you all. Always have been... but now...!"  
He paused, squinting at Gundham's face.  
All those facial features he'd found himself obsessed with only days ago. _Is that the face of scum?_ Someone who turned themselves over to the most disgusting cause in the world out of utter weakness?  
A remnant, someone who pledged their faith to a cause that was so startling and so sickening that it made Nagito's skin crawl to consider.  
  
Somewhere, amidst their similarities and differences, Nagito felt something more. He was just as pathetic as the other ones - and Nagito had grown to hate him just as much.  
But even then... all of Gundham's talk of causality had started to make sense.  
_We were born to have this confrontation. We were both born to be...  
_Nagito swallowed hard, suddenly erupting into a laugh. _Arch enemies._  
  
Or could it be -- cosmic allies?  
His lips drew open, and the lucky student hesitated as he smiled. Did he dare tell him? What would he do?  
  
"Hmph," Gundham still stood his ground. "Your trickery holds no power here, devil of lies."  
  
" _Lies...?"_ Nagito mused.  
  
"You once opted your servitude to the allegiance of hope, pledging your worship to the mere concept of _talent..._ and yet, you make a mockery of such a thing now. Such things... do not suddenly turn on themselves. Not even in treacherous reaches of humanity..." Gundham's arms crossed. "...What is it that you discovered that soured your faith?"  
  
"Oh, why...?" Nagito's interest was captured again. "Are you going to stop me?"  
  
"That would depend upon your intentions. Though I suppose you've no intention of sharing them." Gundham remained guard of the stairwell, even going so far as to draw nearer to them. There was no easy escape.  
  
"Oh, no... I'll tell you," Nagito coddled, as if speaking down to a child. "Since you went to all this effort to find me... I may as well reward you for trying to aid hope. Even if you're only acting in vain... I appreciate the thought." He laughed softly, raising his hands up into plain sight and issuing out a smile. "...I'm going to kill everyone on this island." He leaned forward, eager for Gundham's reaction.  
  
" _Why?_ Are such methods not entirely contradictory to your pledges? You incite blasphemy in your own order!" Gundham argued sharply, tugging his scarf down out of habit. Perhaps to make the serious mask his face wore even more evident than it had been before.  
  
_Mmm..._ It was always nice to see Gundham fighting for a cause that Nagito believed in, too. He understood what hope was - and what hope wasn't. Right? _We'll see._ He'd admire him, if Komaeda wasn't already aware of the poison sins he'd committed in the _real world.  
"That's right... _killing everyone - wouldn't be very hopeful, would it? Without even a chance of overcoming...? Well, I wouldn't go that far, but I have to say you ultimates have disappointed me to no end.... if anyone has _no chance of surviving this..._ it would have to be you guys." His hands crossed over his chest, feeling his breath rattling softly.  
Something wormed and weaved through his intestines, a wrong sense of excitement. It made him tremble. This beautiful, terrible responsibility that had fallen on his shoulders so suddenly.  
To save the world, he had to erase the source of despair. Perhaps for once, he could take one efficient action to _better_ humanity. For once in his miserable existence, he would have done something right. Would that make up for what he knew about himself? And how disgusting he had become?  
He found himself squeezing, _squeezing_ at his arms. Tighter, tighter, _tighter._ The weight of the world was on his measly, dying shoulders.  
He shook his head suddenly, tearing his gaze from the floor where it had suddenly found himself.  
  
And suddenly he cackled. "So then...! You stand so valiantly! Fighting for the cause of hope! Standing against blasphemy! Amazing... how hopeless you are! And yet... you still want to take a stand! Your determination... makes me laugh. Oh...! It's all so fruitless. But you..." He sucked in a soft breath, looking at his hand. … _Must be the protagonist._ And how he had to _envy_ someone like that. Some part of him almost wanted Gundham to win, but his mission was too important.  
The protagonist had to fall for the greater good.  
"Let's take a stand! In the name of 'causality,' right? This meeting... we were both _born_ to meet here. I'm going to end this pathetic world.... hahaha...!" His eyes lit up, sparking with a sick sense of attention. "And you... you can't stop me. But you're welcome to try! I'd be honored to be your mortal enemy! Your _nightmare mirror!_ That... _that_ must be our destiny!" His hands clenched together, before suddenly starting to vibrate with fear.  
  
" _Enough._ " Gundham stated bluntly, still remaining unmoving. "...What is it that this truth mean to you...? Not once have you mentioned the investigation - so _what is it_ that you've unveiled...? Evidently, 'twas a curse so powerful that it riddled you into madness..."  
  
"Oh - what... you mean what we were doing?"  
  
" _Yes?_ " He stated, seeming annoyed by Nagito's lack of understanding. "Was your attempt at the truth merely a façade?"  
  
"Oh, no..." Nagito shook his head briefly. "...I just _discovered_ the truth. That's all that changed! Heh. Heh, heh." He jabbed a finger at the other. "But it's not my fault you couldn't put it together on time... that's not even your job anymore. Now... all you have to do is stand up to me. And fail... so our destiny can be complete. Right?"  
  
Gundham scowled, glaring at Nagito's hand, but remaining unmoved still. "What truth?"  
  
"Figure it out yourself... I managed to do it, as disgusting as I am. Can't you?" Nagito mocked. Punishing him for deeds he wasn't even aware of - it felt necessary, he thought. Right?  
  
"...Are you gaining satisfaction from your play?" Gundham questioned.  
  
"Huh? What do you mean...?"  
  
"Whatever you hide has corrupted your soul... and yet, you refuse to be out with it. How am I to be your mortal enemy, if you cannot tell me the pretenses under which I stand against you?'  
  
"...Ah," Nagito caused, hands climbing his arms. "...Well. Why are you stopping me now...? There must be a reason."  
  
"Hmph. You expect honesty in return for none of your own?" Gundham scolded, wedging his way back into relevance with a word game of his own.  
  
"..." Nagito wet his chapped lips again. His defiance was infuriating as it was hypnotic. Alluring, in a disgusting way. Nagito sucked in a soft breath, tugging gradually at his strands of hair. "...Hm. What... we're at a stalemate, then...?" He hadn't considered sharing his findings at all, but his hands found themselves wringing round, round...  
He shook his head, erupting into a soft laugh. "-Nngh… I guess... it would only be fitting. You know... since we spent all that time together trying to find the truth. Fine. I'll reward you for your dedication to hope."  
  
And the lucky student finally turned his back on him, allowing a strenuous breath to escape him. He rubbed his hands together, mouth running dry. Should he really say anything?  
Something within him whirlpooled, wishing he could suck the entire conversation back up, and keep it to himself. The secrets were too painful to speak about. They threatened him even now, pushing at his eyed, sending shivers through his fingers that began scratching at his appendages. Like floodgates that he was _choosing_ to open.  
  
"...Ah - it's a lot. But I guess I'll start here." He found the courage to turn back again, eyes attentive. "There isno sixteenth student. There _is_ no Hope's Peak Academy... at least - not anymore..." He raised a hand, staring at his palm before his pupils peeled back up enticingly. "I got this from _that broken Monokuma head_ \- I found it... and I repaired it. I was going to show you once I did, but..." He clicked his tongue. "Anyway... as it turns out, there was a special plan in the works... one that _Usami_ managed to get rid of before it could even start! Want to know what that is...?" He crossed his arms. "And I don't mean what that bear was talking about - I'll get to it soon."  
  
"...Yes? What is it, then...?" Gundham tempted.  
  
" _Punishment,_ " Nagito cooed. "This island... is all one big trick. Because Hope's Peak Academy..." He glanced down at both of his hands, which had started trembling again. He coughed up a faulty laugh. "-It's...!" Suddenly he grabbed at his hair, choking up a laugh that rocked his body unnaturally. "Nngh…! Gone! Just like that... hope and talent-! All of it's gone now... ever heard of _the Tragedy at Hope's Peak Academy?_ Huh? How about _the Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History?_ That's right... you haven't. Do you want to know why...?" He raised his hands, opening them on either side of his head as his eyes shot wide open. "-Ah-! Because no one does! No one here, anyway... but it seems a little _strange_ that we'd forget something like that, doesn't it? Everyone the school's reserve course commits suicide!" _No big loss._ But any act in the name of despair disgusted him. "The school's _biggest scandal_ comes to light! The deathly parade storms the school, and almost every ultimate is killed... leaving only a few classes remaining. And the rest...? Is the world's gradual descent into despair. Anyone left... either became someone struggling to survive... or worse. They worshipped that despair. Her name was _Junko,_ apparently." He spat the name out, as if it had personally wronged him.  
" _She_ collected the ultimate despair... she _turned Ultimates_ against hope! She corrupted them. And once she died... they carried on her legacy. _They_ became despair. Sickening, isn't it...?"  
  
"What legends do you cite...?" Gundham's eyed had widened slightly, processing the information quickly, and yet seeming confused rather than accepting. "This came from that ursine's remains?"  
  
"Managed to download it from the intelligence files... it's all there. It gets better, you ready?" Nagito's voice dragged out, but paused. It was too late to play a game, but he nearly stopped dead. _If you want my answers, you're going to have to torture me first! Come on... there's a fork upstairs. Poke my eyes out with it. Or maybe shove it down my gullet...?_ But he liked to see how Gundham reacted to the terrible truth. And besides, they were running out of time. Nagito had to die soon, he couldn't have this appointment of theirs running overtime.  
But how the ability to be burdensome suddenly tugged at his temptations.  
  
Gundham didn't speak, he merely stared intently. _'Go on.'_  
  
"These remnants of despair... disgusting, shambling around with _Junko's_ body parts... created despair wherever they went. I mean terrible things. Dismemberment... cannibalism... matricide, patricide, _homicide!_ Anything you can think of...! Revolting, aren't they?" He exhaled a soft breath. "Thankfully... they managed to be detained by what's called the _Future Foundation..._ the people who created Usami. Against the foundation's wishes, one of the members shoved them all away into a program, where they could be _rehabilitated_ and reintroduced to society. Forgetting their past. Becoming nice... _hopeful_ people all over again. Good, misguided intentions..." He clutched to his chest, fingers trembling.  
"Think about that door that popped up when we first came here..." He glanced up, snickering softly. "But I can read it right off your face - you _know_ already. Don't you? Do you remember?"  
  
"...The door..." Gundham recalled. "...Suspended in the air..."  
  
"Hypnotic. Drew you nearer, and suddenly you were in Hope's Peak Academy. And suddenly you were on an island. And what about the doll teacher that appears and disappears? Can I tell you something else? After we blew up Nezumi Castle the other day... I checked back. _The wall was repaired again._ Overnight. Just like that." He leaned down, seeking something as he attempted to pierce through Gundham's eyes and reach his soul.  
"...Come on, Gundham. You're smart. Right? Who are we...?"  
  
"..." Gundham's stance parted, brows, had they been there, furrowing suddenly. He glanced away, as if letting the truth sink through his skin and penetrate his spirit.  
  
"Want to know something _sick?_ " Nagito seethed. "There's more. _The Ultmate Hope himself_ turned his back on the academy. Turned out... there was a program implemented to create a hope like no other! They wanted to choose one of those _worthless reserve course_ students and turn them into someone meaningful! To give them talents... to let them be an _inspiration_ to talentless and talent _ed_ people alike. His name... was Izuru Kamukura." He spoke the name resentfully, before pausing.  
Nagito then continued. "But when they needed him most... _the Ultimate Hope_ turned to despair. I hear he was the _first_ to turn. Heh, heh... talk about blasphemy against hope, right? Now, I'll tell you what else he did. Remember that bear who appeared on the island...? That was _the worst remnant of them all_ slipping a despairing virus into the program. We were going to have a killing game here on the island - to destroy the attempts at rehabilitation. To live through despair once again. Because all of us were just so _thirsty_ for another taste. Like dogs. Worshipping despair on hands and knees... needing it to survive. Can you think of anything more repulsive?"  
  
"...And in order to purge this world of their influence..." Gundham managed, voice light, as if disconnected from it, "you intend to eradicate them here. To rid the world of those sinners who corrupted your worship. To destroy the corruption within your soul. Would we not awaken, then?"  
  
Nagito shook his head. "Nope. Death in the program scrambles you up in the real world. Think of it... like becoming a harmless vegetable. Wouldn't that be nice? Sure, we aren't despairing _now..._ but once a monster, always a monster. The moment we wake up, something else could remind us of why we became despairs in the first place, and the entire thing would start again. Revolting people like that... deserve to be put down for what they did. The operation would end in a bust. No more remnants. And the world can be hopeful once we're all finally out of the way." He took a deep breath, a strange weight lifting from his chest, only to sink again like a harpoon through his body.  
"...Can you believe it...? Hahah - I always admired the Ultimates… for being the embodiments of hope. But it turns out they were no less _susceptible_ to despair than anyone else." His palms grew sweaty, something choking at the back of his throat. That wasn't all of it.  
As much vindictive hatred he felt for each and every one of them, a constrictive ring of doubt squeezed at his throat. Something that made him think twice about the reliability of Hope's Peak Academy altogether.  
Not only had their talented youth fallen flat, but...  
  
He shook his head suddenly, grasping at his head suddenly and tugging at his hair, body buckling as he stared spirals at the floor.  
No, no, no... _that's my fault, that's my fault._  
  
"It's the only thing to do...! Isn't it? To rid the world of despair? To fix all our terrible actions? I didn't doubt that if I told everyone, they would object! It's just so hard for _humans_ to understand...! But you're not like them! You're different, right...? Do you understand what needs to be done for the sake of hope?" He lifted his head again, heart racing in skittering loops around his rib cage.  
  
"..." Gundham's eyes closed. "...You mentioned Kamukura. Correct? A reserve course student among the ultimates… engineered by the academy itself?" He seemed... reluctant, somehow.  
  
"..." Nagito paled, finding himself hushed. He hugged himself as his eyes darted back down.  
  
"Is that the final student we sought so long? You mentioned his presence in the program - is he, too, in this plane with us? Or does he lie in the extensive universe outside?"  
  
"...No..." Nagito's smile quivered as he looked down at his palm. "...Ahah…! Hahaha... he's here with us. Come on, Gundham…! I thought you were smarter than that." He stood taller, daintily extending his arms to the side, raising his palms upward.  
"A talentless student among ultimates… one undeserving, who clearly doesn't deserve to be there. Scum. Trash...! A traitor to hope! Someone that deserves to die more than anyone else here! Irredeemable for the disgusting things he's done to the academy he admired so much... spitting in the face of his only chance to become what he's always dreamed! Isn't it obvious!" He shook his head, pupils dilating uncannily as a choking laugh wormed out of his lungs.  
"...Their plans changed, Gundham. All the reserve course students are dead."  
  
He stretched his arms wide apart, breathing in a scintillating, wordless breath. A self-crucifixion. "...Oh...! I started this entire charade. The first despair... the human being whose existence is a curse. Who destroyed the world... because he was too weak to fight back! The _first_ remnant. How _pathetic_ do you have to be to drop on your knees for despair _first?_ "  
  
He felt breathless, suddenly weak in the knees. His emptions shoved at the back of his eyes, causing a strange, unnatural sound to escape his lips.  
His very existence, his pathetic, unruly life. He wished he had the emotional capacity to cry and apologize on his knees to the man he'd fallen in love with, because even another remnant deserved better than to be faced with his presence.  
  
The failure of an Ultimate Hope.  
His chance had been gratefully given, only to he dropped on the ground and fragmented like glass shards.  
  
" _Gundham…!_ " His pupils turned in trace-like spirals, beads of sweat rushing down his face. In shame, in disgust, in redemption. The ultimate hope, the failure.  
The only way to redeem himself for failing to be the ultimate hope...  
...Was to become the destroyer of despair, once and for all...!  
" _I'm_ Izuru Kamukura."  
A traumatized smile lit his face with a compassion alien to even himself.  
_Your miserable Ultimate Hope!_


	22. Man's Mistakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Or also known as -- Komaeda's conveniently timed flashback.

_It must have been good luck. There was no other explanation, was there?  
Good luck.  
  
It was a coincidence in anyone else's eyes. A filthy, clumsy reserve course boy happened to leave his belongings on a bench. He left them there, and a sudden gust of wind billowed through the papers tucked hastily within his textbook, loosening a stapled document to the whims of the wind, and sending it skittering along the ground.  
Tumbling over itself, the secrets of the school's underground human experimentation efforts, and the permissions of the new subject's parents, signed off in black pen.  
  
The papers flew into the face of a passing ultimate, not one to speak highly of himself. Blinded, the passerby took a sudden tumble into a garbage can.  
Regaining his footing, flicking a brown-tinted banana peel from his shoulder, the lucky student shook his head, wearily lifting the stapled papers and scanning the cover page.  
  
**IZURU KAMUKURA PROJECT.  
  
**Detailed precisely within the pages - which the lucky student had decided to peruse in the hopes of finding the owner of said documents - detailed the livelihood of the project.  
To pick out a willing reserve course student - (disgusting) - to represent the hope and talent associated with hope's peak academy.  
  
And then, when permissions were given, to implement joined research and scientific effort into giving the student a talent of their own. From nowhere, from the miracles of modern medical science. Nowhere did it detail the procedure itself, just the promise of a speedy, healthy recovery, the promised implemented talent, the care of the entire research time, and the pride and joy of the entire school.  
The glowing, designated participant, to represent the hope of the world with a newly discovered talent. Leaps and bounds in the research and growth of talent, as well as hope.  
The opportunity to go from rags to riches, garbage to gold. A talentless, worthless, boring, insignificant person... to become someone as admirable as that.  
It made Komaeda's insides twist with jealousy, and the found himself tapping the papers against his mouth in agitation as he burned that cursed name into his head.  
Hajime Hinata. Luckier than he was. A golden opportunity for a boy who couldn't even keep this secret project's papers in one place? Who didn't even have a talent to begin with? And - unbeknownst to Komaeda at the time - couldn't even scrap up the funds to continue enrollment. Scum, just like Nagito. Moreso than Nagito.  
Flipping over to the next page of document revealed a fine print of permissions.  
' **I consent that my child is to be taken under the care of Hope's Peak Academy for an unspecified amount of days. I understand the risks associated with this project, as well as the terms of the procedure at hand. I understand and take responsibility for any injury, illness, or fatality that may occur during this project.'  
**Signed off by two 'loving' parents, who clearly had their priorities in place, Nagito thought.  
  
He continued to tap the papers against his lips, eyes skittering away as he exhaled a cool, unhinged breath.  
A reserve course student? Well, he understood the need to throw away the life of someone worthless like that, but he almost worried someone like that would be unsuited. Especially someone that cared so little about where a sacred consent form like this would end up.  
  
Slowly, nearly uncertainly, Nagito folded the paper with the fragility of a butterfly, tucking the document quietly into the breast pocket of his brown blazer. Slipping his hands into his pockets, he hummed a discordant, disconnected tune as he strolled past the bench where Hajime Hinata stood, unpacking his belongings with increasing paranoia, unable to find the lifeline that would keep him cemented to the school he adored and worshipped so much._

+++  


_"Now, I know it's not traditional-!" Nagito laughed, holding up his hands and waving them tiredly. "So forgive me, Principal Kirigiri! But... I couldn't help but find this! Think of it... like a stroke of good luck. Right? That is my talent, after all..."  
The lucky student fetched the program from his pocket, unfolding it neatly as he took to ironing out the creases against his pant leg.  
"Now... could we talk about the Kamukura Project? Haha...!"_

_Off Kirigiri's sudden look of alarm, Nagito was quick to continue._

_"No one told me, of course! But... whoever you elected already - Hajime, that it? Well... he already left his papers lying around, and thanks to my talent, I was able to find it. Now, I'm not here to get you into any kind of trouble at all! I actually have an offer for you... think you could hear me out?"_

_Jin sat back. seemingly a bit agitated, but intrigued nonetheless as he bit as his lip, managing a nod. "Sure, Komaeda. Go on, then."_

_Nagito smiled diplomatically, holding the paperwork up, as if it were his creation, and not the school's. "Says here you need someone relatively free of talent... as well as the consent of the parents and the child alike. I mean, this doesn't exactly seem ethically approved, since you basically admitted to human experimentation. But... I don't find it unlawful at all! If anything, I'd hope to convenience you. Let's cover the points." He glanced at his palm, inhaling softly. This would be the first time in what felt like ages that he would try and advocate a case for himself, who felt so out of place within this school for the great. But he wore a smile as easy as any other article of clothing.  
"Well, in terms of consent... it's easy! Haha... my parents aren't around anymore, so the only consent you'd need to test on someone like me... is - well... me!" He chuckled lightly, shifting his weight dynamically as he slipped the consent forum back onto Jin's desk. "I'm a completely willing subject. As you know... Hope's Peak Academy is the world's greatest source of hope! I'd love nothing more than to be a part of that hope! To let my disappointing talent serve a purpose for this world's talent - and hope! Because the talent in itself... while it really isn't anything special... would contribute to the overall success of the project! Haha... right? Well, if you believe in luck, anyway. You can never have too much, can you? That's already a free dose of luck and more than willing participation! And there's more."  
He drew up a hand, tapping idly on his temple. "I'm already dying, sir. I'm an expendable! I don't mind if I die... I have no problem with any kind of test or adjustment you'd like to help me make! Imagine the success story... if somehow - with the help of my luck - these altercations could save a poor, miserable ultimate's life, and help him become a martyr for the world's hope! Nothing more inspirational than an underdog story... who came from nowhere and managed to become an inspiration to everyone!" His ambitions unfolded off his tongue, feeling so, so out of reach, and so, so close all at once._  
_While he told the truth when he said he didn't mind the idea of dying... some cluster of moths lit up a hope within his chest at the idea of_ becoming _someone. Someone other people could actually look up to... to admire... to care for, to respect. To love. Someone who could make a positive change in other people's lives, and create a future in which all people had a hopeful person to admire. Just like the concept of hope itself had fished him from a deep trench of lost desolation. How he clung to that concept, because unlike his parents, his dog, his friends, his future and his health, hope would always be there. Could he be the hope that had saved his life... for someone else?  
It made him want to cry. It made him want to beg. _Please! Please, let me! Let me become the hope the world needs! _It would be the most admirable thing to do with his dreadful, meaningless body. He was a waste of a life, and he could be transformed like a butterfly from a chrysalis with a meaning that he'd never had before._  
_"There's plenty of stuff to sort around upstairs... and my body sure won't be productive anywhere else! And I'm an expendable ultimate. Every class has a lucky student, doesn't it? Once you take me in... I can't spill to anyone. I'll sign a forum right now! Why wait? I promise - wholeheartedly - to keep this between us! I just want to serve Hope's Peak Academy to the fullest of my ability! There's no drawbacks at all! I understand if you wouldn't want to admit worthless garbage like me... but...!" His hands fastened over his heart, a desperate desire infiltrating his voice - the one he'd been sacrificing in place of professionalism. "...Please...! Let me be the stepping stone for the world's hope! For the school's advances in talent! I'm a more than willing guinea pig - more suited than any_ reserve course student _would be! I have nothing to lose! So please... if my life could hold any great meaning... I'd love for it to be this."  
He looked up wearing that same, charming, innocent, charismatic smile that fooled so many people without even trying to.  
"Let me be the subject of this school's hope. Consider it... please? I'm ready to sign...!"_  
_He daintily tugged a black pen from his blazer pocket, clicking and unclicking the end showily._  
You just can't resist... can you? _Nagito had never yearned for anything more in his life._  


+++

_Goodbye to the world that would never miss him._  
_He had last minute reluctancies, wondering if it really could be his place to be part of such an important project. The unknown was something he'd grown to fear, but somehow this felt familiar. It felt right.  
He left behind his belongings, willing them off to Hope's Peak Academy under the circumstances of his death. He had no one else in his life to give his personal items to. All he had was hope.  
He left behind his clothing in favor of the hospital scrubs he'd been handed, branding himself with a new purpose, hoping to be scrubbed of the old identity that he'd grown to loathe so much._

_He was ready._

_The physical and mental tests had been easy enough, this was the real beginning.  
Nagito allowed himself to be lead along, eyes flashing with vacancy signs as he lost his breath to the amazement he felt.  
He could hardly breath as he was escorted into a room with an operating table in the center, and sterile lights above.  
Nagito almost stopped, mesmerized by it all. Was this luck? Was this what it had all been leading to?  
His losses, his depression, his illness, his hopelessness, his misery, his loneliness... could it finally end here? Could he finally be happy?  
Finally, would it all have a meaning outside of the lies that he told himself every day? About how 'bad luck' lead to 'good luck' even though good luck never felt happy at all?_

_He went willingly, listening to every instruction he was given and practicing them with care.  
When instructed to lay on the table, he did so, resting a palm on the cold, flat surface before stopping.  
It was inconveniencing, yes, annoying, selfish and pestersome, but he shouldn't help himself. He turned to the head surgeon, reaching out his thin, feeble arms and pulling him into a tight, grateful hug.  
"...Hey. Thank you. For helping to make me beautiful," he mumbled, glancing up with a childish gleam in his eye, and a bright, meaningful smile on his lips. "I hope I don't disappoint you. I'll do my best - alright?"  
But it wasn't his efforts that would create whatever miracle came out of this - assuming one did.  
He was just a wax figure to be molded by the dedication and efforts of other people.  
Consenting, he was ready to be taken in. The easy easel to be turned into the masterpiece.  
As he lay down, staring up at the lights, wondering how he would feel when he woke up.  
Would he feel different? More beautiful?  
Would he ever feel like a burden at all?   
Could they make his brain feel better?  
Somewhere in heaven, would his parents be proud of him?  
Could he finally be... happy?  
Maybe he would be happy._

_Breathing in the anesthesia, his eyes fluttered closed, and he breathed himself to sleep with hope swelling in his heart._

_And as he lost his grasp on the world, he would never see how quickly they went to work pulling apart his brain, and cutting him out of existence._

_Nagito Komaeda never woke up._


	23. No More Community Gardens

Komaeda's wide eyes stared down at his hands, which bad begun to shake at his confession. A crazed smile tugging at his lips, the lucky student managed to look up, sputtering out another cackle. "Huuh…? Haha! That's right! _I_ was the instigator of all this! Makes you wonder, huh... I almost wonder if anyone here _knew_. When I went to get Usami up in smoke... I asked her. 'You know Kamukura…?'" He shook his head quickly.  
_"She couldn't tell it was me._ If anything... that only drove the point home that _that bear-thing_ knew more about this 'game' than _she_ did. That means _I_ was the one that attempted to thwart hope's plans - I was the one that was going to let everyone's despair gain control, even in this therapeutic alternative! It was _me_ who turned against hope first...! Can you believe it?" His hands shot up to his hair, fingers tangling messily between the strands as another burst of laughter sprung from his throat and rattled his body unnaturally. "Ahhaha! I can tell why I agreed to it...! The documents didn't tell me why I signed up, but I'm sure it's obvious enough! To get rid of this _disgusting_ brain in this _disgusting_ body... to get some kind of hope out of my miserable life..." He rubbed his hands together, his body's trembling subsiding as he managed a glance up at Gundham. "And after all that... after all that supposedly happened - here, do you want to see?" He turned away from Gundham, kneeling on the floor and lifting up his Student Handbook.  
  
He heard Gundham shuffling with mild discomfort behind him, exhaling a breath.  
"...So it is you that implemented this supposed imposter to the realm? If their intention was to see us done away with-"  
  
Komaeda spun around, handbook in hand. "Look," he seethed, cutting Gundham off as he extended out the electronic tablet. "The last one -- that's what they did to me. My name's blacked out, but it really wasn't that hard to put together after a while."  
  
Gundham's brows furrowed uncertainly, squinting briefly at the tablet as he grasped onto the handbook, seeming to flip through himself. His frown creased.  
  
"They _cut out_ my brain... you'd think after they lobotomized me, I wouldn't have been able to choose despair over hope. If only they'd done a better job..." He lifted a palm. "-I mean - haha. I'm not resentful... I'm sure I was more useful to them as a husk than a person... so I can't say I'm angry. But even after that..."  
He managed to be a failure to hope. After they'd deconstructed his body and improved him, given him a new name, called him the Ultimate Hope...  
He was still too unlucky and still too much of a failure to keep his loyalty through his transformation. He couldn't help but to despise himself - to grow hatred for that _Kamukura_ who was him, but wasn't him all at once. He'd become his own blasphemy.  
What kind of person was that much of a failure? _To become the Ultimate Hope, only to spit in hope's face?_ There was nothing more disgusting than that.  
There was nothing more disgusting than him.  
  
Nagito reached a hand back into his hair, slowly tugging the strands away from his scalp. A slow, gradual self-punishment as his breath held in anticipation.  
  
Then, all at once, Gundham finished reading and glanced up from the tablet.  
  
"...Yeah?" Nagito murmured. "...See it? Even after all that... I'm still just nothing more than worthless, ugly vermin."  
  
"..." Gundham's eyes closed momentarily, but were soon to open again. "...I see," he observed. "...However, I cannot help but call your pleas into question."  
  
"You don't believe me...?" Nagito challenged, lip twitching at the accusation.  
  
"Not quite," Gundham dismissed. "I refer to your loyalty to hope - it would appear evident to me that at the dark hand of such transfigurations... you were not yourself at all - merely the host of a darker, much grander power. Let me ask... you believe your body the hand at this attempted destruction of your fellow humans here?" He excluded himself - perhaps because he thought himself immune to death.  
  
Nagito couldn't tell, and he couldn't bring himself to care. Wallowing, sinking, drowning in his own bog of self-loathing.  
"...Yeah. He did it. _I_ did it... when I was a worthless despair. Heh. Disrupting hope's efforts... just to let we filthy leeches continue to suck life dry. Can you think of anything more worth your loathing?"  
  
"Hmph. Someone you _loathe_ chose to implement a circuit in which we were all killed... and yet, it is your whim to complete that pursuit? Only... to a more certain and swift degree? I would find your philosophy rather self-contradictory under such terms... do you not think it so?"  
  
Nagito shook his head quickly. "Huh? No, no! It's not the same. I'm sure I only did that to destroy hope's efforts at recovering the remnants, and to appease everyone here with the despair they crave... hahah. Same method, but different intention. This isn't going to be a slow, satisfying death. It's going to be _quick._ And painless... which is somehow what we remnants deserve. Hahaha..." He wrung his hands anxiously, eyes flitting about as he managed to clear his throat. "It's the least I can do. Even if I am disrupting the side of hope's plans for us... we don't _deserve_ to survive!"  
  
"Does such a thing," Gundham's voice grew louder, but managed to keep an even-toned emphasis, "not contradict your philosophy once more? You worship hope like the vigilant Gods, and yet - you contradict it even now."  
He sounded scolding, and that made Nagito's face burn with anger.  
"Define for me once more...!" Gundham's stance shifted, lifting his head as a hand raised to point at Nagito. "What is it that _'hope_ ' is?"  
  
"...Hope?"  
  
"Yes... _hope,"_ Gundham emphasized with wicked importance.  
  
"...Hope..." Nagito sloshed his tongue quietly around his mouth, before balling up a bead of saliva and spitting it to the floor. More time to chew on the question. Finally, one hand propping onto his hip, the other raised in the air, angling back at Komaeda's face to reference his fiery words. " _Hope_ is the absolute good... we've talked about it before. Hope... is a force of positivity! It creates the absolute good within this miserable, despairing world...! From the darkness of despair, comes hope! And if _all of us have to die_ for that hope to be preserved...? Well, then..." He held his hands out, open palms facing the flooring above them. "Then so be it! Hahahaha! Hope is so much _bigger_ than all of us! We're just worms... little _writing maggots_ that hope can stare down upon and shake its head. We only existed to be stepping stones for the hope that exists now... and now that our role in the world is done, it's time to be purged."  
  
Gundham shook his head firmly. "Komaeda! You call yourself into contradiction once more..."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Nagito seethed. _What right does a false-hope have to talk down to me?_ But he was no one special himself.  
  
"You said so yourself - _'from the depths of despair's darkest night, hope shall call to arms and arise again from the ashes.'_ And yet, you insist that there is nothing to be done but to die." He scoffed softly, though didn't grow cocky. "Would our collective demise not be _to give up_ upon that hope? _We_ are despair's darkest depths... so it is from within _us_ that your supposed 'hope' shall rise."  
  
"It's too late," Nagito hissed. "We're already tainted! We've already stooped down that way once... we'll just do it all over again, won't we?"  
  
"Once more untrue," Gundham rebutted. "Perhaps we were bewitched by a foul curse... if such a thing is true, then perhaps we are riddled only with doom... but to succumb to that potential, would once more contradict your philosophy."  
  
" _Someone_ has to be sacrificed for the sake of hope! We don't deserve to survive after what we did... turning out backs to it. You read the handbook section on us, didn't you? Huh? Maybe you didn't - I'll find it..." Nagito lifted his hands to catch a glimpse of the digital words again, before Gundham's hands reached out, yanking the screen _down_ and causing Nagito's head to lift in annoyance.  
  
Gundham's multi-colored gaze hooked onto Nagito's. "History defines the present, as it does the future. Where we stand now is merely causality's will. The forked road before us holds no certainty except in destiny's eyes. If what you say is true..." Gundham paused. "Do you believe in the concept of _rebirth,_ Nagito?"  
  
Nagito blinked. "-No, not really."  
  
"Not really..." Gundham grumbled, but shook his head quickly. "Hmph. Those who believe in the concept of rebirth believe that when one leaves this plane, they travel to neither heaven nor hell, but instead assume a new form within the same plane."  
  
"I know what it is..." Nagito paused. "What... are you saying this whole thing is like a chance at 'rebirth' then? Some kind of second chance? To shed our despairing skin and start again?"  
  
"That _is_ my implication, yes... hell awaits us all in due time. I have no will to enforce my values upon you, though I shall attempt to 'suade you in this: if we resign this opportunity that causality has allowed us... such would be defeat. Such would entail no glimmer of hope at all. Those who oppose themselves and arise with their honor regained and values intact, such a thing would reflect what the universe deems _good._ I am a creature of evil, so perhaps no hope remains for me... however, I cannot stand as you once again make mockery of your teachings!"  
  
_Wh-!? What is he talking about!?_ "I already said we don't deserve it-! Even if we have another chance, we already _fucked up_ the first one enough, don't you think...?" Nagito's voice lifted into an eerie cheerfulness. "Hahahaha... you think we deserve to wake up from this, and serve hope all over again? What happens when we all fall down the same rabbit hole of misery... and end up being a stain on the world's face all over again?"  
  
"You speak about with such little rigor..." Gundham observed. "...Hmph. Within you I'd recognized a budding power... you're choosing to stomach such a thing now. According to your teachings, from the ashes we stand in, we should collectively channel our power into returning to the world that we have wronged, and attempting to atone for our doings."  
  
"You don't even know the terrible things we did...! Want me to name a few?" Nagito started.  
  
"Our past sins hold a weight that we must _carry_ \- your flaw is in allowing these weights to overcome you with defeat. These sins... matter to us dearly. However, as I speak now, I shall tell you whatever occurred in the past shall not steer me away from such a standing. I've said already I hold no will to force my teachings upon you, however, I shall reveal to you my beliefs." His hands pressed together, eyes closing again. "...To give up on one's life - is simply a blasphemy in the face of life itself. To dispel it with no care and no action in its defense... would be humanity's greatest arrogance. If you are to merely give up the effort to maintain it, such is a disgrace in the eyes of nature..."  
  
"Easy for you to say. We already _did_ throw our lives away! We already _are_ disgraces! Can't you see? I thought you were smart - I thought we understood one another...!" Nagito paused, hugging himself desperately. "Here. This'll get you to understand. Your hamsters - your Dark Devas... are they in your scarf? Huh?" He sneered with disdain.  
"...Will they still be when you wake up? I bet you they're _not...!_ "  
  
...Gundham tensed up almost invisibly, eyes closing as he frowned. He reached a bandaged hand up to his scarf, tugging it quickly down in order to feel about inside.  
With a soft exhale, his eyes opened again, still staring certainly into Komaeda's eyes. "...If such is the case," he put simply. "...Then I reject this illusion, and wish to embrace my actions upon my waking." His voice hardly wavered.  
  
_...He's..._ Nagito choked. _...So - he's so-_  
Nagito bit his tongue. "...We can't. I won't even let you get the chance. We'll all die too soon - I bet they're almost here to blow us all away, knowing my luck!"  
  
"Then you stand against yourself, Komaeda," Gundham uttered darkly.  
  
"Fine! I'll stand against myself if it means standing _for_ hope! I don't care!" Nagito spat. "As if I deserve to fight for my own will anyway! My loyalty will always lie with the side of hope."  
  
"-Which even now, you bastardize!" Gundham snapped back.  
  
"Ah - forget it... hope..." _Just isn't something you understand._ Nagito allowed a tremor to rumble though his body. "Isn't for us. Alright? We don't deserve another chance... we don't deserve happiness, we don't deserve hope."  
  
"...What holds you at such a stand-still...?" Gundham's voice tentatively softened again. "I read to you the decrees of your standings, and yet - you remain so firmly rooted where you stand..." He seemed to only be speaking aloud, and looked to stop as his mouth closed suddenly. Perhaps he was losing faith in the conversation.  
  
And somehow, Nagito felt his stomach drop at the idea of losing Gundham's understanding.  
  
"...I see the morals by which you stand," Gundham acknowledged. "...I see the call for justice that issues as the Gods bellow for sacrifice. I see your will to become the catalyst of the future - the martyr that shapes good's rise in the world - and _evil's_ untimely fall... that those who have sinned have sinned enough. Such a blasphemy - that you shelve your beliefs in place of your rage. Komaeda..." He paused, suddenly easing his crossed-arm stance.  
"You resent yourself."  
  
"...Oh, wow, good observation," Nagito commented sarcastically.  
  
"-Such is why you cannot let go," Gundham insisted. "...Certainly, you despise us all for our violation - such... is understandable. However... your words cycle back and forth. _You_ wish to be punished for your actions - because _you_ feel that there can be no second coming for yourself! You limit your power by your own hand, just as the obfuscating veil encloses the weak! You shall remain a phantom among men, for you hold upon your hunger for vengeance too tightly!"  
  
Nagito's eyelid twitched with agitation. "Second coming!? Ahaha! I don't _get_ a second coming!" He allowed his hands to shoot into his mess of hair again. "Your imperfect philosophy...! Even if we all wake up, happy and hopeful, I _don't!_ Hahaha! Gundham... I don't mind if I don't wake up, but - not if _Kamukura_ wakes up instead!" His hands shifted positions again, extended out in front of him as he grimaced down at them.  
These hands - these hands that committed despairing deeds, and signed that stupid paper that allowed himself to be dissected alive.  
He'd been so open to the idea of it - to being erased entirely. It had sounded so appealing before today. But now, staring at the creases between his fingers, all he could feel was anger.  
Anger that his only use came from his erasure. Anger towards the hopeful ending that would never exist for him, because his stupid luck twisted him inside out and backwards, and never allowed him a way out.  
Because no matter what, he would always end up dead, he would always end up erased, he would end up the link to cut from the chain. The weakest among them. The stepping stone that would never be more than a footstool.  
And handing himself over with the hope of becoming someone he could admire meant nothing, it meant nothing! It all meant nothing! "H-He's going to come back! There is no Nagito anymore! He's in here!" He clutched himself tightly again. "And when I wake up... I don't even have a brain anymore. I'm just stuffed up with talents that only serve despair..."  
How his dream died so quickly in reality's light. How unrealistic it was to dream of being a vessel of hope and talent. All of it imploded in on itself, and left him choking on the debris.  
  
As he stood, his knees quaked suddenly, and he drew closed to the floor, still grasping his arms tight. "I'm... finally going to disappear." He wheezed on his breath. Isn't this what he wanted?  
Didn't he want to die? Didn't he want to finally be put down, so he didn't have to hurt anymore?  
  
_...But not like this..._ not alone. Slower - to his cancer. Not like this. He suddenly felt so unready to disappear. His wills battled one another as a choking sound escaped his throat.  
_Not like this. Not alone. Not alone!_ His breath quickened, fingers turning to writhing snakes that slithered all over his body and tore it apart piece by piece.  
"Can you b-believe that...?" He scrounged up. "Heh-! Hahah... they killed me! that's the most I could do to serve hope - it was - to die... just - just let me do it again..." His voice broke off at the end, a clamor in his lungs leaking through his eyes as the lucky student finally began to cry.  
Pathetic, pathetic. How hard he'd tried to keep up a happy smile and encouraging personality to keep Gundham impressed. How hard he'd worked in building up their friendship - his only friendship - only to feel it collapsing in on itself. And it was all his fault. He had to - didn't he have to?  
Didn't he have to tear them apart? Gundham deserved to be hurt.  
_He_ deserved to be hurt. They all deserved to be hurt.  
  
He hated that Gundham made more sense than he did - but this only drove home what Nagito already knew.  
Nagito could never be the Ultimate Hope. He'd never be anyone's hope at all.  
He couldn't even be Gundham's friend.  
He couldn't even hold onto his dignity.  
  
He was sobbing. Nagito hadn't even known he _could_ sob. Choking on his tears, having to cover his eyes jus to sit back on his knees and shield his shame from Gundham's watching eyes. He could feel himself shrinking.  
  
The looming figure of the breeder above him slowly crept to his knees, seeming almost as hesitant as Komaeda himself was. Then, gradually, Gundham cleared his throat, extending a hand and resting it softly on Nagito's knee.  
  
Sniffling, Nagito swallowed his disgust, staring at the floor as his hands lowered from his face. Finally, he glanced up at Gundham.  
  
Gundham looked stern - but... concerned? Maybe it was concern. Gundham was difficult to read, especially in the face of Nagito's open and bleeding emotional wounds. And finally, after a long moment of tense silence, the Breeder seemed to ease slightly. With a moment of reluctant, yet accepting ceremony, he extended his arms beckoningly.

Without even thinking, Komaeda slunk forward, melting into the proposed hug and squeezing the other with a strange form of frailty. He clung, sinking his head into the other's shoulder, clutching him with unabashed need.  
  
"I'm disgusting," Nagito apologized.  
  
"..." Gundham didn't respond, shaking his head scoldingly instead. _'No.'_  
  
Nagito cleared his throat, swallowing hard. He attempted to breathe, instead summoning up another soft hiccup of emotional torment. He wanted to badly to speak his mind, but he hadn't done that - ever, really. _And neither have you, huh..._ Gundham.  
They really did mirror one another, didn't they?  
  
Nagito shook his head again, lip trembling slightly. "...I'm - not ready," he sputtered softly. "...To die - yet...."  
  
"Then don't," Gundham answered simply.  
  
Nagito took a deep breath, wiping his eyes off on his sleeve and willing himself to calm down. His sobbing quelled into a soft, uncertain murmur.  
"...But - here comes the bad luck... either way, I don't make it," Nagito mumbled. "...I die here - or I die there! Wouldn't you rather just... die here? Instead of letting Kamukura back? To drag everyone else into despair?"  
  
"..." Gundham gave a soft 'hmph,' seemingly considering Nagito's point as he lifted an arm to fish into his scarf, retrieving his four devas and allowing them all to rest on his palm.  
He frowned at them.  
  
...Nagito found himself feeling bad - before grappling with himself on whether or not he was allowed to. He, too, stared up at the hamsters from his sunken position.  
"...Besides, we can't get out."  
  
"Hrm? And how's that?" Gundham questioned.  
  
"The ruins - the password... it was the only way out. We were all going to go inside there, and graduate... but I destroyed it. That's _why_ I destroyed it. May as well complete my plan, right? It's merciful... for everyone."  
  
Gundham tsk'd softly. "Tch... I've no experience with being tethered to a plane such as this, but there must be some method to opening a portal..."  
  
"...I don't think so," Nagito stated, before eating his words in shame. _God..._ he really _was_ acting so hopeless. He pulled away from Gundham, hugging himself tightly - he wished he could hate Gundham as much as he hated himself. But the more he spoke, the more _hope_ shined through. _How did they manage to turn someone like you?_  
He couldn't bring himself to the hatred he yearned for.  
  
Gundham cleared his throat, finally rising to his feet before offering Nagito a hand. "...Rise. We shall find a way to free ourselves from this prison once we put an end to the _ambush of doom_ lying outside."  
  
_'Ambush of doom...'_ Nagito nodded weakly, reaching up tiredly to accept Gundham's hand. He allowed himself to be helped to his feet.  
Once standing, he took a moment to shake tears from his eyes, clearing his throat and standing there awkwardly. "Sorry," he mumbled again. "I'm getting myself together... sorry for doing this in front of you." Why was he apologizing?  
Why was he giving up like this?  
_...Is this giving up?_ Or was _this_ acceptance?  
He paused, stooping down to collect his student handbook as he hesitated. Nagito wiped his hand off on his pant leg, before offering it over to Gundham. "...Hey..." _Do you think we could...?_  
  
Gundham appeared confused, extending a hand in return and shaking Nagito's.  
  
"No - I..." Nagito's eyes flicked to the stairs. He wanted nothing more than to be held again, but that was likely asking too much. "Together."  
Was releasing his firm grasp on his plan truly the right idea? He couldn't help but hate himself for what felt like his weakness. Nagito couldn't help but be _terrified_ of what came after.  
His emotions stumbled over themselves.  
Who did he hate? Who did he love?  
What did he do?  
  
The only constant he had was Gundham, who seemed to muse softly over his request.  
  
"Hmph... I suppose."  
  
...  
Nagito gingerly took his hand, squeezing it softly in his own. A lost void flooded his stomach. He was meaningless.  
Meaningless.  
...  
He didn't let go as they rose up the stairs together. He didn't let go as they navigated through the winding halls of the old, dusty building. He didn't let go as Gundham opened the door, and allowed Nagito through first.  
He didn't let go as they finally stepped outside, the artificial sun extending its arms down to them.  
He didn't let go as he suddenly felt the eyes from above probing him this way and that. The eyes that belonged to people that didn't exist. The ever-present feeling of being watched.  
  
As the cool tropical breeze ruffled Nagito's hair, he exhaled a sigh of relief that had been fighting to free itself ever since he stole away into the basement.  
  
"...So... I guess we should probably tell everyone, huh...?" Nagito mumbled, unfamiliar with the idea of working in more than a team of two.  
  
"I...?" Gundham, too, seemed... uncertain. "Hmph. I guess we have no other choice." Clearly even more unfamiliar with teamwork.  
  
Nagito nodded, sniffling softly as he stared up at the endless dome of the sky. Somewhere, through the fabrics of blue and white, were strings of code that held them all dangling in suspense.  
  
Nagito couldn't yet hate himself for what he'd done - he couldn't yet hate himself for destroying their only means of escape.  
After all, this was the only realm in which Nagito Komaeda _was alive,_ if that was truly what he wanted.  
  
...But clinging onto that lifeline was the most selfish option he had, so he rejected it hastily.  
  
The illusions were up, and the curtain would be raised to the entire audience soon enough. Nagito turned away from the death trap he'd set. "...Dangerous. Let's go to the gate," he commented softly. "Come on."  
  
The island was made for them. It was uncertain if they were ready to leave yet. The blossoming lies of bliss, that held them in place and allowed them to root themselves among one another's closeness and brace for graduation.  
But Nagito had single-handedly taken a match to the community garden they'd created, and no more promised to plant themselves in the clutches of the despairing world.  
And yet, ahead of them lay a mysterious, winding road with no clear outcomes. They paved their own destiny now - one where hope had an unclear hand.  
And only ‘causality’ knew where they'd all end up.  
Nagito took a deep breath. The only option he had now was to look forward, stare the incoming unknown in the face, and place his bets against the void.  
  
He held tight to Gundham's hand.  
_...Please, don't let go of me._


	24. Epilogue

No one died.  
And still, holding up a student handbook and reading out what Nagito had learned took a toll upon the island's peaceful atmosphere.  
  
There was an uneasiness that came at the price of truth.  
  
Nagito still had to grapple with his resentments as he watched the Ultimates that he once loved and admired coming to terms with what they'd been told, folding and unfolding on the borders of truth and dismay.  
Some of them insisted that none of it could be true.  
  
' _Why believe the guy that blew up the island?'  
  
_But perhaps the consensus shouldn't have surprised him.  
While uneasy, disturbing, uncomfortable and uncertain, no one reverted back.  
  
There was a heaviness on all of their shoulders, one that carried the price of their past mistakes and doings, but their was, amidst the gloom and doom, that glimmer of what some could call hope.  
That need for redemption, the claim that if they were ever to escape from the island, they would turn themselves around, and remedy their past actions.  
'We have to make up for all this somehow - right?'  
  
There was no telling how they would ever - assuming that they _could_ ever - escape the program. But perhaps it went without saying that if they were ever to see the natural light of day again, they would do so in one another's arms, with one another's support. Whatever the unknown gave them, they could face it together.  
And make up for it together.  
  
...Nagito felt a certain avoidance. Not a complete one, but a vague uneasiness around him, as much as their was pity. He wasn't fond of either gesture.  
But there was a strange sense of security that came with Gundham, so he found himself falling into the routine of staying by his side, fearing the future. Hoping, perhaps, for the best.  
No matter the outcome, he could hold that sensation close.  
  
To have hope willingly taken from his hands left him startlingly fearful. Perhaps he hadn't realized how closely he'd monitored its manifestation in others until he'd finally released it to the world.  
Perhaps it wasn't his responsibility to execute in its name after all.  
But the idea was still troubling. Walking on tip-toe around a desert of shattered glass. He was quieter.  
  
But he wasn't hopeless. It was hard to hold his breath in anticipation, but he could do so as long as it took for the future to unfold itself. What place would they have in it?  
On the front lines, repairing their misdeeds? Or tucked away into a corner for an eternity.  
  
But perhaps the idle comfort he took in facing the uncertainty alongside someone else would be enough.  
If he died, he wouldn't be alone.  
And in the same way, he found himself focusing his tearful gaze on the person who distorted his feelings the most.  
Gundham, the man he still cared for, despite the blurred lines between hope and despair that he walked.  
_Do you believe in me?  
_They could be staples for one another. While the breeder's troubles were more deeply buried, Komaeda was present nonetheless.  
A silent assurance that existed for them both.  
  
Time passed - enough time, though not too much. Enough time for a smile to light up Komaeda's face every now and again. A strange suspended sensation, like being dangled from the air, waiting for the plummet to the Earth. The Russian roulette of every passing second - _when do we all disappear?  
_When would Nagito Komaeda _stop._ And would it be a relief? Or would it be awful?  
Would it ever come at all?  
  
But for every second he remained on the illusion of the beach, he felt a strange stability. The uncertainty beyond his control that allowed him to breathe for a moment, and cling onto what he wanted. _Do you understand me?_  
_Yes._ His heart fluttered.  
  
And he promised it to himself, gaining one more confirmation that he and Gundham were friends - he registered it deep down.  
_Hey. No matter what happens... you have to stick around for him. That's what he told you to do._ He would hold himself to it.  
  
And then one day, the sky tore open and burst into fragments. It was so sudden that it was startling.  
And just like that, the world was over.  
  
Nagito was the last one up - he couldn't be surprised.  
The world was a blur for most of his awakening. He took in every word from a chipper Makoto Naegi with a nod, thoughts spiraling in a hypnotic, tired circle. He wasn't certain who he was.  
  
"I'm glad to have you back!" Makoto greeted. "We're still sorting everything out - so... the status of a lot of things are 'pending' right now... but I'm glad you made it. Are you going to be alright? Need anything? Oh - and it's good to meet you!"  
His smile was laced with hope as he extended a hand.  
  
….Nagito shook it wearily.  
  
Soon, after taking in the vague promises of efforts for their rights and promises of the remnant's protection, Nagito slipped off into the nearest bathroom, finally taking a look at himself in the mirror.  
His hands tangled experimentally into his hair, overgrown, oily and filthy. It hadn't seen a trimming in years. Of course, Izuru Kamukura wouldn't have cared to maintain his hygiene. Nagito hadn't been one to maintain selfcare much himself, either.  
  
His eyes were tired, lined with a dark circle beneath each lid. He looked sicklier than he remembered.  
  
Almost instantaneously, his thoughts swarmed with an idle buzzing question.  
_...Am I him?  
Am I me?  
_As he brandished a Future Foundation issue of blunted scissors and went to work severing the length of his hair, he had to reconsider the question. To back from it, to and fro.  
He cared - he worried, he thought, but to a numbed degree. Was this what it felt like to be someone else?  
To struggle with his emotions more than he had before?  
Sick in the head already, now with emotions harder and harder to locate?  
_Do I... feel anything?  
_He thought he was frightened, but he couldn't tell anymore. _...Ah, I'm overthinking.  
  
_He was better at self-issued hair trimmings than he remembered - perhaps there was a talent for it buried beneath the scars he'd already taken to poking at. All in one terrible arc around his forehead and around his temples.  
He was someone else's masterpiece.  
  
He cut his hair short. Shorter than he was used to - but he yearned for a change of some kind.  
_Yearning..._ that was a feeling, wasn't it?  
  
Setting the instrument on the counter, he stopped, staring himself in the mirror, he raised a hand and pointed at his reflection.  
"Hey," he rasped, eyebrows quirking up with a spur of attitude. He swallowed, closing his eyes momentarily before opening them gradually. "...I'm Nagito Komaeda. And so are you. Alright? Hahaha..." He managed to muster a lazy smile.  
The program hadn't unburied him only for him to be lost again - right?  
  
Did he belong buried? _Maybe...  
_Did he want to be buried? _Maybe...  
  
_But... he would have to be the one to bury himself. And he wouldn't - he couldn't, not yet.  
He could live as Nagito Komaeda, couldn't he? It was his name, and who he was, even if expressing any genuine emotion felt like his own shadow.  
...He could see. And he could still hope, too. _I'm me._ Did he want to be?  
_...Yeah._ He'd promised himself, and he was going to keep it.  
  
He strode out of the bathroom, trekking across the familiar-yet-unfamiliar island lying outside of the simulation room.  
Yes, he _was_ Nagito. He could feel himself deep down beneath his forced suppression of thought. Smothered, but still alive. And he wasn't doing to dip to the whim of his miserable, despairing potential.  
For once, it was a name to be proud of.  
_I'm Nagito Komaeda._ He could live as himself still. So long as he insisted, he could unbury himself, and extend a hand out to the lucky student buried alive.  
  
The sunlight was blinding, so Komaeda raised a pale hand to shield his face.  
His dual-colored eyes surveyed the landscape, stopping on a figure that seemed... familiar.  
  
...Fastidiously adjusting his wear, which had been returned to him after his awakening, he approached.  
  
The figure, perhaps sensing him, turned, too. Nowhere on his body lay his Dark Devas - which made some part of Komaeda's spirit flinch.  
  
As Komaeda reached up to adjust his sleeves, some part of him suddenly doubted. Was he dead? _Am I dead?  
_"Oh...! Gundham," he greeted, tone slipping into a slight monotonousness. "...Good to see you."  
  
"...Ah - _Komaeda…_ greetings..." Gundham's voice rumbled softly, head tilted slightly. Grieving, evidently, but silent. And between those layers of mourning, there was a relief. "Does your spirit remain intact?" And there was the guarded tone.  
  
"...My spirit?" Sans the usual 'huh' he'd grown to expect of himself. Nagito glanced down, thinking for a moment, before his gaze raised to meet Gundham's again. "...Oh! Hey... we have the same colored eyes... see?" The lucky student - and ultimate hope, too - raised a hand to point.  
  
"...Hmph. Yet again... our destinies mirror," Gundham said, seemingly bemused. "...Though you still neglect my question. Does your soul reside within?"  
  
"Well, last I checked... you had it. Mind giving it back?" Nagito managed to joke.  
  
"...Hmph. I suppose I've grown bored with towing it about... I suppose, if it is safe to do so... I could return it to you. However! This does not end our contract... is such a thing in your favor?"  
  
"Oh! Of course... wouldn't dream of disrupting the contract! Hm... thank you, Gundham," Nagito paused, touching at his lips, only find them creased in a lack of expression.  
_...Oh._  
  
...Briefly, his hand covered his heart, before his eyes flicked away.  
There it was - he could feel it again. His heart fluttering.  
Through the tangles of winding, contradicting thought, Nagito still loved him. _Is that right?  
_A vulnerability with a beating heart. One that was his own. One that still rooted itself inside of him - signaling to himself that he _was_ alive. _I'm here._  
_I'm here._  
  
...His smile fell into place naturally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank all of you so, so much for reading this!! <3  
> Everyone's continuous support means a lot to me since this little project was made mostly out of selfcare.  
> I love you all sm!!! && Take care! :]


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